A Bibliography of the Writings in Prose and Verse of George Henry Borrow

by Thomas James Wise

  “A remarkable proof of this is to be found in what is said in it respecting the Italians. It is all very well at the present day, after the miracles lately performed in Italy by her sons, to say that Italy is the land to which we must look for great men; that it is not merely the country of singers, fiddlers, improvisatori, and linguists, but of men, of beings who may emphatically be called men. But who, three or four years ago, would have ventured to say as much? Why there was one and only one who ventured to say so, and that was George Borrow in his work entitled The Romany Rye. Many other things equally bold and true he has said in that work, and also in its predecessor Lavengro.

  “In conclusion we wish to give Mr. Borrow a piece of advice, namely, that with all convenient speed he publish whatever works he has written and has not yet committed to the press. Life is very precarious, and when an author dies, his unpublished writings are too frequently either lost to the world, or presented in a shape which all but stultifies them. Of Mr. Borrow’s unpublished writings there is a catalogue at the end of The Romany Rye, and a most remarkable catalogue it is, comprising works on all kinds of interesting subjects. Of these, the one which we are most eager to see is that which is called Wild Wales, which we have no doubt whenever it appears will be welcomed as heartily as The Bible in Spain was seventeen years ago, a book which first laid open the mysterious peninsula to the eyes of the world, and that the book on Wales will be followed by the one which is called Wanderings in quest of Manx Literature. Now the title alone of that book is worth a library of commonplace works, for it gives the world an inkling of a thing it never before dreamed of, namely, that the little Celtic Isle of Man has a vernacular literature. What a pity if the book itself should be eventually lost! Here some person will doubtless exclaim, ‘Perhaps the title is all book, and there is no book behind it; what can Mr. Borrow know of Manx literature?’ Stay, friend, stay! A Manx grammar has just appeared, edited by a learned and highly respectable Manx clergyman, in the preface to which are some beautiful and highly curious notices of Manx vernacular Gallic literature, which are, however, confessedly not written by the learned Manx clergyman, nor by any other learned Manxman, but by George Borrow, an Englishman, the author of The Bible in Spain and The Romany Rye.”

  A number of translations from Welsh Poetry were introduced by Borrow into this Essay. They were all, as he explained in a footnote, derived from his projected Songs of Europe. With the exception of an occasional stray couplet, or single line, the following list includes them all:—

  1. From Iolo Goch’s “Ode to the Plough Man.” [The mighty Hu with mead would pay]

  Reprinted, with several changes in the text, in Wild Wales, 1862, Vol. iii, pp. 292–293.

  A further extract from the same Ode, “If with small things we Hu compare” etc., is given in a footnote on p. 40.

  2. Saxons and Britons. [A serpent that coils]

  Reprinted (the first line reading A serpent which coils) in Wild Wales, 1862, Vol. i, p. 48.

  3. The Destiny of the Britons. [Their Lord they shall praise]

  These lines were employed by Borrow in the following year as a motto for the title-pages of Wild Wales.

  4. From an Ode on Llywelyn, By Dafydd Benfras. [Llywelyn of the potent hand oft wroght]

  5. From an Ode on the Mansion of Owen Glendower, By Iolo Goch. [Its likeness now I’ll limn you out]

  6. Epigram on the rising of Owen Glendower. [One thousand four hundred, no less and no more]

  7. From an Ode to Griffith ap Nicholas, By Gwilym ap Ieuan Hen. [Griffith ap Nicholas! who like thee]

  Reprinted in Wild Wales, 1862, Vol. iii, p. 327.

  8. Epigram on a Spider. [From out its womb it weaves with care]

  (15) Once a Week, Vol. vi, January 4th, 1862, pp. 37–39.

  Ballads of the Isle of Man. Translated from the Manx. By George Borrow:

  1. Brown William. [Let no one in greatness too confident be]

  Reprinted in Mona Miscellany, 1869, pp. 67–70.

  Again reprinted (with the prose Introduction considerably curtailed) in Brown William, The Power of the Harp, and Other Ballads, 1913, pp. 5–11.

  2. Mollie Charane. [O, Mollie Charane, where got you your gold?]

  Reprinted in Mollie Charane and Other Ballads, 1913, pp. 5–7.

  (16) Once a Week, Vol. vi, March 8th, 1862, pp. 289–294.

  Emelian the Fool.

  The first of a series of three Russian Popular Tales, in Prose, translated by George Borrow.

  Also printed privately in pamphlet form, as follows:—

  Emelian the Fool / A Tale / Translated from the Russian / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913.—Crown octavo, pp. 37. [See ante, Part I, No. 53.]

  The Tale was included in The Avon Booklet, Vol. ii, 1904, pp. 175–197.

  Borrow had projected a volume to contain a series of twelve Russian Popular Tales, and this was included among the Works advertised as “ready for the press” at the end of The Romany Rye.

  Unfortunately the project failed to meet with success, and these three Tales were all that finally appeared.

  (17) Once a Week, Vol. vi, May 17th, 1862, pp. 572–574.

  The Story of Yvashka with The Bear’s Ear.

  The second of a series of Russian Popular Tales, in Prose, translated by George Borrow.

  Reprinted in The Sphere, February 1st, 1913, p. 136.

  Also printed privately in pamphlet form as follows:—

  The Story / of / Yvashka with the Bear’s Ear / Translated from the Russian / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913. Square demy octavo, pp. 23. [See ante, Part I, No. 26.]

  The Story was also included in The Avon Booklet, Vol. ii, 1904, pp. 199–210.

  (18) Once a Week, Vol. vii, August 2nd, 1862, pp. 152–155.

  Harald Harfagr. A Discourse Between a Valkyrie and a Raven, &c. [Ye men wearing bracelets]

  Reprinted (under the amended title The Valkyrie and Raven) in The Nightingale, The Valkyrie and Raven, and Other Ballads, 1913, pp. 11–20.

  A Prose Introduction, which preceded the Ballad in Once a Week, was not reprinted in The Nightingale, The Valkyrie and Raven, and Other Ballads.

  A facsimile (actual size) of a page of the Original Manuscript is given herewith.

  In Once a Week this Ballad was accompanied by an Illustration, engraved upon wood, representing the Valkyrie discoursing with the Raven.

  (19) Once a Week, Vol. vii, October 4th, 1862, pp. 403–406.

  The Story of Tim.

  The third (and last) of a series of Russian Popular Tales, in Prose, translated by George Borrow.

  Also printed privately in pamphlet form, as follows:—

  The Story of Tim / Translated from the Russian / By / George Borrow / London: / Printed for Private Circulation / 1913–Crown octavo, p. 31. [See ante, Part I, No. 54.]

  The Story was also included in The Avon Booklet, Vol. ii, 1904, pp. 211–229.

  (20) Once a Week, Vol. viii, January 3rd, 1863, pp. 35–36.

  The Count of Vendel’s Daughter. [Within a bower the womb I left]

  Reprinted in The Verner Raven, The Count of Vendel’s Daughter, and Other Ballads, 1913, pp. 12–17.

  (21) Once a Week, Vol. viii, December 12th, 1863, p. 686.

  The Hail-Storm;or, The Death of Bui. [All eager to sail]

  This Ballad differs entirely from those which appeared, under the title The Hail-Storm only, in Romantic Ballads, 1826, pp. 136–138, in Targum, 1835, pp. 42–43, and in Young Swaigder or The Force of Runes and Other Ballads, 1913, pp. 14–15. Each of these three versions consists of four eight-line stanzas; the present Ballad extends to 84 lines, arranged in irregular stanzas.

  (22) Benjamin Robert Haydon: Correspondence and Table Talk. By Frederic Wordsworth Haydon, 1876, Vol. i, pp. 360–361.

  A Letter from Borrow to B. R. Haydon.

  Reprinted in George Borrow and his Circle. By Clement King Shorter, 1913, p. 25.

  (2
3) Life, Writings, and Correspondence of George Borrow. By William I. Knapp, 2 Vols, 1899:

  Vol. ii, pp. 91–95.

  Tale from the Cornish. [In Lavan’s parish once of yore]

  Reprinted (with some small textual revisions) in Signelil, A Tale from the Cornish, and Other Ballads, 1913, pp. 8–18.

  Vol. ii, p. 238.

  Hungarian Gypsy Song. [To the mountain the fowler has taken his way]

  The two volumes contain, in addition, a considerable number of Letters and other documents published therein for the first time.

  (24) George Borrow: The Man and his Work. By R. A. J. Walling, 8vo, 1908.

  Several Letters by Borrow, Addressed to Dr. [afterwards Sir John]Bowring,

  were printed for the first time in this volume.

  (25) The Life of George Borrow. By Herbert Jenkins, 8vo, 1912.

  Several Letters, and Portions of Letters, By Borrow,

  were printed for the first time in this volume.

  (26) The Fortnightly Review, April, 1913, pp. 680–688.

  Nine Letters from Borrow to his Wife.

  The letters form a portion of an article by Mr. Clement Shorter, entitled George Borrow in Scotland.

  Eight of these letters had been printed previously in Letters to his Wife Mary Borrow, 1913 [see ante, Part I, No. 19]. The remaining letter was afterwards included in Letters to his Mother Ann Borrow and Other Correspondents, 1913 [see ante, Part I, No. 57].

  (27) George Borrow and his Circle. By Clement King Shorter, 8vo, 1913.

  Many Letters by Borrow,

  together with a considerable number of other important documents, were first printed in this volume.

  Note.

  The various Poems and Prose Articles included in the above list, to which no reference is appended, have not yet been reprinted in any shape or form.

  Query.

  There exists a galley-proof of a Ballad by Borrow entitled The Father’s Return. From the Polish of Mickiewicz. The Ballad consists of twenty-one four-line stanzas, and commences “Take children your way, for the last time to-day.” This proof is set up in small type, and was evidently prepared for insertion in some provincial newspaper. This paper I have not been able to trace. Should its identity be known to any reader of the present Bibliography I should be grateful for a note of it.

  * * * * *

  *** In The Tatler for November 26, 1913, appeared a short story entitled The Potato Patch. By G. Borrow. This story was not by the Author of Targum. ‘Borrow’ was a mis-print; the name should have read ‘G. Barrow.’

  PART III.

  BORROVIANA: COMPLETE VOLUMES OF BIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM.

  (1)

  George Borrow in / East Anglia / By / William A. Dutt / [Quotation from Emerson] / London / David Nutt, 270–271, Strand / 1896.

  Collation:—Crown octavo, pp. 80.

  Issued in paper boards backed with cloth, with the title-page, slightly abbreviated, reproduced upon the front cover. Some copies are in cream-coloured paper wrappers.

  (2)

  Life, Writings, / and Correspondence of / George Borrow / Derived from Official and other / Authentic Sources / By William I. Knapp, Ph.D., LL.D. / Author and Editor of French and Spanish Text-Books / Editor of “Las Obras de Boscan,” “Diego de Mendoza,” etc. / And late of Yale and Chicago Universities / With Portrait and Illustrations / In Two Volumes / Vol. I. [Vol. II.] / London / John Murray, Albemarle Street / New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons / 1899.

  Collation:—Demy octavo:

  Vol. I. pp. xx + 402.

  Vol. II. pp. x + 406, with an inserted slip carrying a List of Errata for both Volumes.

  Issued in dull green cloth boards, gilt lettered.

  (3)

  George Borrow / The Man and his Work / By / R. A. J. Walling / Author of “A Sea Dog of Devon” / Cassell and Company, Limited / London, Paris, New York, Toronto and Melbourne / mcmviii.

  Collation:—Crown octavo, pp. xii + 356.

  Issued in dull red cloth boards, gilt lettered.

  Several Letters from Borrow to Dr. [afterwards Sir John] Bowring were first printed in this volume.

  (4)

  George Borrow / Von / Dr. Bernhard Blaesing. / Berlin / Emil Ebering / 1910.

  Collation:—Royal octavo, pp. 78.

  Issued in mottled-grey paper wrappers, with the title-page reproduced upon the front.

  (5)

  Cymmrodorion / Society’s / Publications. / George Borrow’s Second / Tour in Wales. / By / T. C. Cantrill, B.Sc., / and / J. Pringle. / From “Y Cymmrodor,” Vol. xxii. [313] / London: Issued by the Society, / New Stone Buildings, 64, Chancery Lane.

  Collation:—Demy octavo, pp. 11, without title-page, the title, as above, appearing upon the front wrapper only.

  Issued (in April, 1911) in bright green paper wrappers, with the title in full upon the front.

  (6)

  George Borrow / The Man and his Books / By / Edward Thomas / Author of / “The Life of Richard Jefferies,” “Light and / Twilight,” “Rest and Unrest,” “Maurice / Maeterlinck,” Etc. / With Portraits and Illustrations / London / Chapman & Hall, Ltd. / 1912.

  Collation:—Demy octavo, pp. xii + 333 + viii.

  Issued in deep mauve coloured cloth boards, gilt lettered.

  (7)

  The Life of / George Borrow / Compiled from Unpublished / Official Documents, his / Works, Correspondence, etc. / By Herbert Jenkins / With a Frontispiece in Photogravure, and / Twelve other Illustrations / London / John Murray, Albemarle Street, W. / 1912.

  Collation:—Demy octavo, pp. xxvi [misnumbered xxviii] + 496.

  Issued in bright green cloth boards, gilt lettered. A Second Edition appeared in 1913.

  (8)

  George / Borrow / A Sermon preached in / Norwich Cathedral on / July 6, 1913 / By / H. C. Beeching, D.D., D.Litt. / Dean of Norwich / London / Jarrold & Sons / Publishers.

  Collation:—Crown octavo, pp. 12.

  Issued in drab paper wrappers, with the title-page reproduced upon the front, the words Threepence Net being added at foot.

  (9)

  Souvenir / of the / George Borrow / Celebration / Norwich, July 5th, 1913 / By / James Hooper / Prepared and Published for / the Committee / Jarrold & Sons / Publishers / London and Norwich.

  Collation:—Royal octavo, pp. 48, with a Portrait-Frontispiece, and twenty-four Illustrations and Portraits.

  Issued in white pictorial paper wrappers, with trimmed edges.

  (10)

  Catalogue of the Exhibition / Commemorative of George Borrow / Author of “Lavengro” etc. held / at the Norwich Castle Museum. / July, 1913. / Price 3d.

  Collation:—Post octavo, pp. 12.

  Issued wire-stitched, without wrappers, and with trimmed edges.

  (11)

  George Borrow / and his Circle / Wherein may be found many / hitherto Unpublished Letters / of Borrow and his Friends / By / Clement King Shorter / Hodder and Stoughton / London New York Toronto / 1913.

  Collation:—Square octavo, printed in half-sheets, pp. xix + 450; with a Portrait of Borrow as Frontispiece, and numerous other Illustrations.

  Issued in dark crimson paper boards, backed with buckram, gilt lettered.

  There are several variations in this edition as compared with one published simultaneously in America by Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. of Cambridge, Mass. These variations are connected with Borrow’s attitude towards the British and Foreign Bible Society, Mr. Shorter having taken occasion to pass some severe strictures upon the obvious cant which characterised the Bible Society in its relations with Borrow. These strictures, although supported by ample quotations from unpublished documents, the London publishers, being a semi-religious house, persuaded the author to cancel.

  (12)

  A / Bibliography / of / The Writings in Prose and Verse / of / George Henry Borrow / By / Thomas J. Wise / London: / Printed for Private Circulation only / By Richard Clay & Sons, Ltd. / 1914.

  Collation:—Foolscap quarto, pp.
xxii + 316, with Sixty-nine facsimiles of Title-pages and Manuscripts.

  Issued in bright green paper boards, lettered across the back, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. One hundred copies only were printed.

  London:

  PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY

  By Richard Clay & Sons, Ltd.

  1914.

  Footnotes:

  [0a] The majority of the Manuscripts of Ballads written in or about 1829 are upon paper watermarked with the date 1828. The majority of the Manuscripts of Ballads written in or about 1854 are upon paper watermarked with the date 1852.

  [0b] Among the advertisements at the end of The Romany Rye, 1857, three works (1) Celtic Bards, Chiefs, and Kings, (2) Songs of Europe, and (3) Kœmpe Viser, were announced as ‘ready for the Press’; whilst a fourth, Northern Skalds, Kings, and Earls, was noted as ‘unfinished.’

  [0c] No doubt a considerable number of the Ballads prepared for the Songs of Scandinavia in 1829, and surviving in the Manuscripts of that date, were actually composed during the three previous years. The production of the complete series must have formed a substantial part of Borrow’s occupation during that “veiled period,” the mists surrounding which Mr. Shorter has so effectually dissipated.