I have never seen a copy of the First Edition of Borrow’s translation into the dialect of the Spanish Gypsies of the Gospel of St. Luke in the original binding. No doubt the book (which was printed in Madrid) was put up in paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, in accordance with the usual Continental custom.
Most of the copies now extant are either in a modern binding, or in contemporary brown calf, with marbled edges and endpapers. The latter are doubtless the copies sent home by Borrow, and bound in leather for that purpose. The leaves of these measure 6 × 4 inches.
As will be seen from the following extracts, it is probable that the First Edition consisted of 250 copies, and that 50 of these were forwarded to London:
“In response to Borrow’s letter of February 27th, the Committee resolved ‘to authorise Mr. Borrow to print 250 copies of the Gospel of St. Luke, without the Vocabulary, in the Rummanee dialect, and to engage the services of a competent person to translate the Gospel of St. Luke by way of trial in the dialect of the Spanish Basque.’”—[Letters of George Borrow to the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1911, pp. 205–206.]
“A small impression of the Gospel of St. Luke, in the Rommany, or Gitano, or Gipsy language, has been printed at Madrid, under the superintendence of this same gentleman, who himself made the translation for the benefit of the interesting, singular, degraded race of people whose name it bears, and who are very numerous in some parts of Spain. He has likewise taken charge of the printing of the Gospel of St. Luke, in the Cantabrian, or Spanish Basque language, a translation of which had fallen into his hands.”—[Thirty-Fourth Annual Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1838, p. xliii.]
“All the Testaments were stopped at the custom house, they were contained in two large chests. . . . The chests, therefore, with the hundred Gospels in Gitano and Basque [probably 50 copies of each] for the Library of the Bible Society are at present at San Lucar in the custom house, from which I expect to receive to-morrow the receipt which the authorities here demand.”—[Borrow’s letter to the Rev. A. Brandram, Seville, May 2nd, 1839.]
A Second Edition of the Gospel was printed in London in 1871. The collation is Duodecimo, pp. 117. This was followed by a Third Edition, London, 1872, the collation of which is also Duodecimo, pp. 117. Both bear the same imprint: “London: / Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street, / and Charing Cross.”
For these London Editions the text was considerably revised.
The Gospel of St. Luke in the Basque dialect, referred to in the above paragraphs, is a small octavo volume bearing the following title-page:
Evangelioa / San Lucasen Guissan / El Evangelio segun S. Lucas. / Traducido al vascuence. / Madrid: / Imprenta de la Campañia Tipografica / 1838.
The translation was the work of a Basque physician named Oteiza, and Borrow did little more than see it through the press. The book has, therefore, no claim to rank as a Borrow princeps.
The measure of success which attended his efforts to reproduce the Gospel of St. Luke in these two dialects is best told in Borrow’s own words:
“I subsequently published the Gospel of St. Luke in the Rommany and Biscayan languages. With respect to the first, I beg leave to observe that no work printed in Spain ever caused so great and so general a sensation, not so much amongst the Gypsies, for whom it was intended, as amongst the Spaniards themselves, who, though they look upon the Roma with some degree of contempt, nevertheless take a strange interest in all that concerns them. . . . Respecting the Gospel in Basque I have less to say. It was originally translated into the dialect of Guipuscoa by Dr. Oteiza, and subsequently received corrections and alterations from myself. It can scarcely be said to have been published, it having been prohibited and copies of it seized on the second day of its appearance. But it is in my power to state that it is anxiously expected in the Basque provinces, where books in the aboriginal tongue are both scarce and dear.”—[Borrow’s Survey of his last two years in Spain, printed in his Letters to the Bible Society, 1911, pp. 360–361.]
There is a copy of the First Edition of The Gospel of St. Luke in the dialect of the Spanish Gypsies in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is C.51.aa.12. The Museum also possesses a copy of the Gospel in the Basque dialect; the Pressmark is C.51.aa.13.
(7) [The Zincali: 1841]
The Zincali; / Or, / An Account / of the / Gypsies of Spain. / With / An Original Collection of their / Songs and Poetry, / and / A Copious Dictionary of their Language. / By / George Borrow, / Late Agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society / in Spain. / “For that, which is unclean by nature, thou canst entertain no hope: no / washing will turn the Gypsy white.”—Ferdousi. / In Two Volumes. / Vol. I. [Vol. II] / London: / John Murray, Albemarle Street. / 1841.
Vol. I.
Collation:—Large duodecimo, pp. xvi + 362; consisting of: Half-title (with imprint “G. Woodfall and Son, Angel Court, Skinner Street, London” upon the centre of the reverse) pp. i–ii; Title-page, as above (with blank reverse) pp. iii–iv; Dedication To the Right Honourable the Earl of Clarendon, G.C.B. (with blank reverse) pp. v–vi; Preface pp. vii–xii; Table of Contents pp. xiii–xvi; and Text pp. 1–362, including a separate Fly-title (with blank reverse) to The Zincali, Part II. There are headlines throughout, each verso being headed The Zincali, whilst each recto carries at its head a note of the particular subject occupying it. The imprint is repeated at the foot of p. 362. The signatures are a (six leaves), b (two leaves), B to Q (15 sheets, each 12 leaves), plus R (two leaves). Sig. R 2 is a blank.
Vol. II.
Collation:—Large duodecimo, pp. vi + 156 + vi + *135; consisting of: Half-title (with imprint “G. Woodfall and Son, Angel Court, Skinner Street, London” upon the centre of the reverse) pp. i–ii; Title-page, as above (with blank reverse) pp. iii–iv; Table of Contents pp. v–vi; Fly-title to The Zincali, Part III (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Text of Part III (including separate Fly-titles, each with blank reverse, to The Praise of Buddh, On the Language of the Gitanos, and Robber Language) pp. 3–156; Fly-title (with blank reverse) to The Zincali. Vocabulary of their Language pp. i–ii; Advertisement to the Vocabulary pp. iii–v; p. vi is blank; Text of the Vocabulary pp. *1–*113; p. *114 is blank; Fly-title (with blank reverse) to Miscellanies in the Gitano Language pp. *115–*116; Advertisement to the Miscellanies p. *117; and Text of the Miscellanies pp. *118–*135. The reverse of p. *135 is blank. There are head-lines throughout, each verso being headed The Zincali, whilst each recto carries at its head a note of the particular subject occupying it. The imprint is repeated at the foot of p. *135. The signatures are a (2 leaves), b (one leaf), B to G (6 sheets, each 12 leaves), H (6 leaves), a (3 leaves), b to e (4 sheets, each 12 leaves), f (9 leaves), and g (12 leaves). b 6, b 8, and b 12 are cancel-leaves. The last leaf of Sig. g is occupied by a series of Advertisements of Works just Published by John Murray.
Issued (in April, 1841) in dark blue cloth boards, with white paper back-label, lettered “Borrow’s / Gypsies / of / Spain. / Two Volumes. / Vol. I. [Vol. II.].” The leaves measure 7⅞ × 4¾ inches. The published price was 18s.
Of the First Edition of The Zincali Seven Hundred and Fifty Copies only were printed. A Second Edition, to which a new Preface was added, was published in March, 1843, and a Third in September, 1843, each of which was restricted to the same number of copies. The Fourth Edition appeared in 1846, the Fifth in 1870, the Sixth in 1882, the Seventh in 1888, and the Eighth in 1893. The book has since been included in various popular editions, and translated into several foreign languages.
Examples of The Zincali may sometimes be met with bearing dates other than those noted above. These are merely copies of the editions specified, furnished with new title-pages.
Included in the second volume of The Zincali is a considerable amount of verse, as follows:
page
Rhymes of the Gitanos. [Unto a refuge me they led]
13
The Deluge. Part I. [I with fear and terror quake]
The Deluge. Part II. [When I last did bid farewell]
75
The Pestilence. [I’m resolved now to tell]
The whole of the above pieces are accompanied on the opposite pages by the original texts from which Borrow translated them.
85
Poem, Relating to the Worship of the great Foutsa or Buddh. [Should I Foutsa’s force and glory]
Previously printed in Targum, 1835, p. 13.
94
There is a copy of the First Edition of The Zincali in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is 1429.g.14.
(8) [The Bible in Spain: 1843.]
The / Bible in Spain; / Or, the / Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments / Of an Englishman, / in / An Attempt to Circulate the Scriptures / in / The Peninsula. / By George Borrow, / Author of “The Gypsies of Spain.” / In three volumes. / Vol. I. [Vol. II, etc.] / London: / John Murray, Albemarle Street. / 1843.
Vol. I.
Collation:—Large duodecimo pp. xxiv + 370; consisting of: Half-title (with imprint “G. Woodfall and Son, Angel Court, Skinner Street, London” upon the centre of the reverse) pp. i–ii; Title-page, as above (with blank reverse) pp. iii–iv; Contents of Vol. i pp. v–viii; Preface pp. ix–xxiv; and Text pp. 1–370. There are head-lines throughout, each verso being headed The Bible in Spain together with the number of the Chapter, whilst each recto carries at its head a note of the particular subject occupying it, with the Chapter number repeated. The imprint is repeated at the foot of p. 370. The signatures are A to Q (sixteen sheets, each 12 leaves), plus R (a half-sheet of 6 leaves). The last leaf of sig. R carries a series of Advertisements of books published by John Murray.
Vol. II.
Collation:—Large duodecimo, pp. viii + 398; consisting of Half-title (with imprint “G. Woodfall and Son, Angel Court, Skinner Street, London” upon the centre of the reverse) pp. i–ii; Title-page, as above (with blank reverse) pp. iii–iv; Contents of Vol. ii. pp. v–viii; and Text pp. 1–398. There are headlines throughout, as in the first volume. The imprint is repeated at the foot of p. 398. The signatures are A (four leaves), B to R (sixteen sheets, each 12 leaves), plus S (8 leaves). The last leaf of Sig. R carries a series of Advertisements of books published by John Murray.
Vol. III.
Collation:—Large duodecimo, pp. viii + 391; consisting of: Half-title (with imprint “G. Woodfall and Son, Angel Court, Skinner Street, London” upon the centre of the reverse) pp. i–ii; Title-page, as above (with blank reverse) pp. iii–iv; Contents of Vol iii pp. v–viii; and Text pp. 1–391. There are headlines throughout, as in the two preceding volumes. The reverse of p. 391 is occupied by Advertisements of Romantic Ballads, Targum, and The Zincali. The imprint is repeated at the foot of p. 391. The signatures are a (2 leaves), b (2 leaves), B to R (sixteen sheets, each 12 leaves), plus S (4 leaves).
Issued (in December, 1842) in deep claret-coloured cloth boards, with white paper back-label, lettered “The | Bible | in | Spain | Vol. I. [Vol. II, &c.].” The leaves measure 7¾ × 4¾ inches. The published price was 27s.
Although the title page of the First Edition of The Bible in Spain is dated 1843, there can be no doubt that the book was ready early in the preceding December. I have in my own library a copy, still in the original cloth boards, with the following inscription in Borrow’s handwriting upon the flyleaf:
Autographed presentation copies of Borrow’s books are remarkably few in number, I only know of four, in addition to the above. One of these is preserved in the Borrow Museum, at Norwich.
Of the First Edition of The Bible in Spain One Thousand Copies were printed. The Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Editions were all published in 1843. By 1896 eighteen authorised editions had made their appearance. Since that date the book has been re-issued in numberless popular editions, and has been translated into various foreign languages.
The following verses made their first appearance in The Bible in Spain:
vol. i., page
Fragment of a Spanish Hymn. [Once of old upon a mountain, shepherds overcome with sleep]
67
Lines from an Eastern Poet. [I’ll weary myself each night and each day]
149
A Gachapla. [I stole a plump and bonny fowl]
175
vol. ii., page
Fragment of a Patriotic Song. [Don Carlos is a hoary churl]
141
Saint James. [Thou shield of that faith which in Spain we revere]
A reduced facsimile of the first page of the Manuscript of Saint James will be found facing the present page.
176
Lines. [May the Lord God preserve us from evil birds three]
310
Lines. [A handless man a letter did write]
312
There is a copy of the First Edition of The Bible in Spain in the Library of the British Museum. The press-mark is 1369.f 23.
(9) [Review of Ford’s “Hand-book for Travellers in Spain”: 1845]
Art.—Hand-book for Travellers in Spain. London: 2 Vols. / post 8vo. 1845.
Collation:—Folio, pp. 12. There is no Title-page proper, the title, as above, being imposed upon the upper portion of the first page, after the manner of a ‘dropped head.’ The head-line is Spanish Hand-book throughout, upon both sides of the page. There is no printer’s imprint. There are also no signatures; but the pamphlet is composed of three sheets, each two leaves, making twelve pages in all.
Issued stitched, and without wrappers. The leaves measure 13½ × 8½ inches. The pamphlet is undated. It was printed in 1845.
This Review is unquestionably the rarest of the First Editions of Borrow’s Works. No more than two copies would appear to have been struck off, and both are fortunately extant to-day. One of these was formerly in the possession of Dr. William I. Knapp, and is now the property of the Hispanic Society, of New York. The second example is in my own library. This was Borrow’s own copy, and is freely corrected in his characteristic handwriting. A greatly reduced facsimile of the last page of the pamphlet is given herewith.
In 1845 Richard Ford published his Hand-Book for Travellers in Spain and Readers at Home [2 Vols. 8vo.], a work, the compilation of which is said to have occupied its author for more than sixteen years. In conformity with the wish of Ford (who had himself favourably reviewed The Bible in Spain) Borrow undertook to produce a study of the Hand-Book for The Quarterly Review. The above Essay was the result.
But the Essay, brilliant though it is, was not a ‘Review.’ Not until page 6 is the Hand-Book even mentioned, and but little concerning it appears thereafter. Lockhart, then editing the Quarterly, proposed to render it more suitable for the purpose for which it had been intended by himself interpolating a series of extracts from Ford’s volumes. But Borrow would tolerate no interference with his work, and promptly withdrew the Essay, which had meanwhile been set up in type. The following letter, addressed by Lockhart to Ford, sufficiently explains the position:
London,
June 13th, 1845.
Dear Ford,
‘El Gitano’ sent me a paper on the “Hand-Book” which I read with delight. It seemed just another capital chapter of his “Bible in Spain” and I thought, as there was hardly a word of ‘review,’ and no extract giving the least notion of the peculiar merits and style of the “Hand-Book,” that I could easily (as is my constant custom) supply the humbler part myself, and so present at once a fair review of the work, and a lively specimen of our friend’s vein of eloquence in exordio.
But, behold! he will not allow any tampering . . . . I now write to condole with you; for I am very sensible, after all, that you run a great risk in having your book committed to hands far less competent for treating it or any other book of Spanish interest than Borrow’s would have been . . . and I consider that, after all, in the case of a new author, it is the first duty of the “Quarterly Review” to introduce that author fully and fairly to the public.
Ever Yours Truly,
J. G. Lockhart.
“Our author pictures Gibraltar as a human entity thus addressing Spain:
Accursed land! I hate thee, and far from being a defence, will invariably prove a thorn in thy side.
And so on through many sentences of excited rhetoric. Borrow forgot while he wrote that he had a book to review—a book, moreover, issued by the publishing house which issued the periodical in which his review was to appear.”—[George Borrow and his Circle, 1913, p. 257].
In 1913 Borrow’s Review was reprinted in the following Pamphlet:
A / Supplementary Chapter / to / The Bible in Spain / Inspired by / Ford’s “Handbook for Travellers in Spain.” / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.—Square demy 8vo, pp. 46. [See post, No. 10.]
(10) [A Supplementary Chapter to “The Bible in Spain”: 1913]
A / Supplementary Chapter / to / The Bible in Spain / Inspired by / Ford’s “Handbook for Travellers in Spain.” / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.
Collation:—Square demy octavo, pp. 46; consisting of: Half-title (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Frontispiece (with blank recto) pp. 3–4; Title-page, as above (with blank reverse) pp. 5–6; Prefatory Note (signed ‘T. J. W.’) pp. 7–10; and text of the Chapter pp. 11–46. There are head-lines throughout, each verso being headed A Supplementary Chapter, and each recto To the Bible in Spain. Following p. 46 is a leaf, with blank recto, and with the following imprint upon the reverse, “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N. W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A to C (3 sheets, each 8 leaves), inset within each other.
A Bibliography of the Writings in Prose and Verse of George Henry Borrow Page 5
