Source: Shorter, frontispiece.
IN November 1840 a tall athletic gentleman in black called upon Mr. Murray offering a MS. for perusal and publication. George Borrow had been a travelling missionary of the Bible Society in Spain, though in early life he had prided himself on being an athlete, and had even taken lessons in pugilism from Thurtell [John Thurtell, an amateur boxer, executed for murder in 1824] who was a fellow-townsman. He was a native of Dereham, Norfolk, but had wandered much in his youth, first following his father, who was a Captain of Militia.... From early youth he had a passion, and an extraordinary capacity, for learning languages, and on reaching manhood he was appointed agent to the Bible Society, and was sent to Russia to translate and introduce the Scriptures. While there he mastered the language, and learnt besides the Sclavonian and the gypsy dialects. He translated the New Testament into the Tartar Mantchow, and published versions from English into thirty languages. He made successive visits into Russia, Norway, Turkey, Bohemia, Spain and Barbary. In fact, the sole of his foot never rested. While an agent for the Bible Society in Spain, he translated the New Testament into Spanish, Portuguese, Romany, and Basque which language, it is said, the devil himself never could learn and when he had learnt the Basque he acquired the name of Lavengro, or word-master.
Such was George Borrow when he called upon Murray to offer him the MSS. of his first book.... Mr. Murray could not fail to be taken at first sight with this extraordinary man. He had a splendid physique, standing six feet two in his stockings, and he had brains as well as muscles, as his works sufficiently show — Samuel Smiles, pp. 338-39
The Lord's Prayer in Romany. Source: Wise, frontispiece.
Biographical Material
Works
- "Coruña," an excerpt from The Bible in Spain (1843)
- "Meeting Petulengro, and Acquiring an Unusual Name," an excerpt from Lavengro (1851)
- "Llangollen," an excerpt from Wild Wales (1862)
Contextual material
Bibliography
Borrow, George Henry. Lavengro: The Scholar, the Gypsy and the Priest. London: Macmillan, 1900. Illustrated by E. J. Sullivan. Project Gutenberg. Web. 13 May 2020.
_____. Wild Wales, Its People, Language and Scenery. 1862. London and Glasgow: Collins, 1955.
Collie, Michael, and Angus M. Fraser. George Borrow: A Bibliographical Study. Winchester: St Paul's Bibliographies, 1984.
Fraser, Angus. "Borrow, George Henry (1803–1881), writer and traveller." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Web. 13 May 2020.
Hooper, James. Souvenir of the George Borrow Celebration. London and Norwich: Jarrold & Sons, 1913. Internet Archive. Contributed by University of California Libraries. Web. 13 May 2020.
Hopkins, R. Thurston. George Borrow: Lord of the Open Road. London: Jarrolds, 1922. Internet Archive. Contributed by Cornell University Library. Web. 13 May 2020.
Knapp, William, I. Life, Writings, and Correspondence of George Borrow (1803-1881).... Vol. I. London: John Murray, 1899. Internet Archive. Contributed by Harvard University Library. Web. 13 May 2020.
Knapp, William, I. Life, Writings, and Correspondence of George Borrow (1803-1881).... Vol. 2. London: John Murray, 1899. Internet Archive. Contributed by Harvard University Library. Web. 13 May 2020.
Nord, Deborah Epstein. Gypsies and the British Imagination, 1807-1930. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008.
Romani Cymru. Romani Wales Project. Web. 16 May 2020.
Shorter, Clement. George Borrow and His Circle. London and New York: Hodder and Stoughton, 1913. Internet Archive. Contributed by Cornell University Library. Web. 13 May 2020.
Smiles, Samuel. A Publisher and His Friends; Memoir and Correspondence of John Murray, with an account of the origin and progress of the house, 1768-1843. London: John Murray, 1911. Internet Archive. Contributed by the University of California Libraries. Web. 13 May 2020.
Thomas, Edward. George Borrow, the Man and His Books. London: Chapman & Hall, 1912. Project Gutenberg. Web. 13 May 2020.
Wise, Thomas J. A Bibliography of the Writings in Prose and Verse of George Henry Borrow. London: Richard Clay & Sons, 1914. Internet Archive. Contributed by Cornell University Library. Web. 13 May 2020.
Created 13 May 2020