Lavengro

Lavengro, by George Borrow, Edited by William

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Lavengro, by George Borrow, Edited by William Knapp
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: Lavengro The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest
Author: George Borrow
Editor: William Knapp
Release Date: November 1, 2007 [eBook #23287]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LAVENGRO***

Transcribed from the 1911 John Murray edition, by David Price, [email protected]

LAVENGRO THE SCHOLAR, THE GYPSY, THE PRIEST
BY GEORGE BORROW
A NEW EDITION CONTAINING THE UNALTERED TEXT OF THE ORIGINAL ISSUE; SOME SUPPRESSED EPISODES, MS. VARIORUM, VOCABULARY AND NOTES BY THE AUTHOR OF THE LIFE OF GEORGE BORROW
LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1911
{Rackman's Offices, Tuck's Court, St. Giles', Norwich: p0.jpg}
FIRST EDITION . . . 1851 SECOND EDITION . . . ---- THIRD EDITION . . . 1872 FOURTH EDITION . . . 1888 FIFTH EDITION . . . 1896 SIXTH (DEFINITIVE) EDITION . . . 6/- March, 1900 Reprinted . . . July, 1902 Reprinted . . . May, 1904 Reprinted . . . Thin Paper . Aug., 1905 Reprinted . . . 6/- . Jan., 1907 Reprinted . . . Sept., 1907 Reprinted . . . 2/6 net . Sept., 1907 Reprinted . . . Thin Paper . June 1908 Reprinted . . . 1/- net . Feb., 1911
[ORIGINAL TITLE PAGE.]
LAVENGRO;
THE SCHOLAR--THE GYPSY--THE PRIEST.
BY GEORGE BORROW, AUTHOR OF "THE BIBLE IN SPAIN" AND "THE GYPSIES OF SPAIN"
IN THREE VOLUMES--VOL. I.
LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1851.

ADVERTISEMENT. (1851.)
In compliance with the advice of certain friends who are desirous that it may not be supposed that the following work has been written expressly for the present times, the author begs leave to state that it was planned in the year 1842, and all the characters sketched before the conclusion of the year 1843. The contents of the volumes here offered to the public have, with the exception of the Preface, existed in manuscript for a very considerable time.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. (1851.)
In the following pages I have endeavoured to describe a dream, partly of study, partly of adventure, in which will be found copious notices of books, and many descriptions of life and manners, some in a very unusual form.
The scenes of action lie in the British Islands. Pray be not displeased, gentle reader, if perchance thou hast imagined that I was about to conduct thee to distant lands, and didst promise thyself much instruction and entertainment from what I might tell thee of them. I do assure thee that thou hast no reason to be displeased, inasmuch as there are no countries in the world less known by the British than these selfsame British Islands, or where more strange things are every day occurring, whether in road or street, house or dingle.
The time embraces nearly the first quarter of the present century. This information, again, may perhaps be anything but agreeable to thee; it is a long time to revert to--but fret not thyself, many matters which at present much occupy the public mind originated in some degree towards the latter end of that period, and some of them will be treated of.
The principal actors in this dream, or drama, are, as you will have gathered from the title-page, a Scholar, a Gypsy, and a Priest. Should you imagine that these three form one, permit me to assure you that you are very much mistaken. Should there be something of the Gypsy manifest in the Scholar, there is certainly nothing of the Priest. With respect to the Gypsy--decidedly the most entertaining character of the three--there is certainly nothing of the Scholar or the Priest in him; and as for the Priest, though there may be something in him both of scholarship and gypsyism, neither the Scholar nor the Gypsy would feel at all flattered by being confounded with him.
Many characters which may be called subordinate will be found, and it is probable that some of these characters will afford much more interest to the reader than those styled the principal. The favourites with the writer are a brave old soldier and his helpmate, an ancient gentlewoman who sold apples, and a strange kind of wandering man and his wife.
Amongst the many things attempted in this book is the encouragement of charity, and free and genial manners, and the exposure of humbug, of which there are various kinds, but of which the most perfidious, the most debasing, and the most cruel, is the humbug of the Priest.
Yet let no one think that irreligion is advocated in this book. With respect to religious tenets, I wish to observe that I am a member of the Church