Thomas James Wise

“ As a writer of English Prose Borrow long since achieved the position which was his due; as a writer of English Verse he has yet to come by his own.
The neglect from which Borrow’s poetical compositions (by far the larger proportion of which are translations from the Danish and other tongues) have suffered has arisen from one cause, and from one cause alone,—the fact that up to the present moment only his earliest and, in the majority of cases, his least successful efforts have been available to students of his work. ”

“ But the book exhibits what is infinitely more precious than the deepest learning, more desirable than the most amusing treasury of adventure, a fearless, honest spirit, a resolution to tell the truth however strange the truth may appear to the world. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Borrow’s unpublished writings there is a catalogue at the end of The Romany Rye, and a most remarkable catalogue it is, comprising works on all kinds of interesting subjects. p. 299Of 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. ”

“ As a further example of Borrow’s shorter Ballads, I give Ingeborg’s Disguise in full. The entire series included in The Return of the Dead and Other Ballads ranks among the most uniformly successful of Borrow’s achievements in this particular branch of literature:—
INGEBORG’S DISGUISE [161]
Such handsome court clothes the proud Ingeborg buys,
Says she, “I’ll myself as a courtier disguise.”
Proud Ingeborg hastens her steed to bestride,
Says she, “I’ll away with the King to reside.” ”

“ In some respects Axel Thordson and Fair Valborg is the most ambitious of Borrow’s Ballads. It is considerably the longest, unless we regard the four “Songs” of which Marsk Stig is comprised as forming one complete poem. But it is by no means the most successful; indeed it is invariably in his shorter Ballads that we find Borrow obtaining the happiest result.
Two Manuscripts of Axel Thordson and Fair Valborg are available. The first was prepared in 1829 for the Songs of Scandinavia. The second was revised in 1854 for the Kœmpe Viser. This later Manuscript is in my own possession. ”

“ Of these twelve The Bible in Spain was already in the hands of the public, Wild Wales duly appeared in 1862, and The Sleeping Bard in 1860. These three were all that Borrow lived to see in print. Two others, The Turkish Jester and The Death of p. 91Balder, were published posthumously in 1884 and 1889 respectively; but the remaining seven, Celtic Bards, Chiefs, and Kings, Songs of Europe, Kœmpe Viser, Penquite and Pentyre, Russian Popular Tales, Northern Skalds, Kings, and Earls, and Bayr Jairgey and Glion Doo: The Red Path and the Black Valley, were never destined to see the light. ”

“ Upon page 122 of Romano Lavo-Lil, is printed a version of The Lord’s Prayer cast into Romany by Borrow. The original Manuscript of this translation has survived, and its text presents some curious variations from the published version. A reduced facsimile of this Manuscript serves as Frontispiece to the present Bibliography.
Accompanying the Manuscript of The Lord’s Prayer in Romany, is the Manuscript of a translation made by Borrow into the dialect of the English Gypsies. This translation has never, so far as I am aware, appeared in print. ”

“ The Frontispiece consists of a greatly reduced facsimile of the last page, bearing Borrow’s corrections, of the original edition of his Review of Ford’s ‘Hand-Book.’
This Supplementary Chapter to “The Bible in Spain” is a reprint of the Review of Ford’s Hand-book for Travellers in Spain written by Borrow in 1845 for insertion in The Quarterly Review, but withdrawn by him in consequence of the proposal made by the Editor, John Gibson Lockhart, that he should himself introduce into Borrow’s Essay a series of extracts from the Handbook. [See ante, No. 9.] ”

“ There are no head-lines, the pages being numbered centrally in Arabic numerals. Beyond that upon the foot of the title-page, there is no imprint. The signatures are given in large Arabic numerals, each pair of half-sheets dividing one number between them; thus the first half-sheet is signed 1, the second 1*, the third 2, the fourth 2*, &c. The Register is therefore 1 to 7 (thirteen half-sheets, each 4 leaves) , followed by a single unsigned leaf (pp. 105–106) , the whole preceded by an unsigned half-sheet carrying the Title-page, Preface, and Table of Contents. ”

“ Faustus was translated by Borrow from the German of Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger. Mr. Shorter suggests, with much reason, that Borrow did not make his translation from the original German edition of 1791, but from a French translation published in Amsterdam in 1798.
The reception accorded to Faustus was the reverse of favourable. The Literary Gazette said (July 16th, 1825) :—
“This is another work to which no respectable publisher ought to have allowed his name to be put. ”

“ Edmund Gosse to Grimhild’s Vengeance is undoubtedly by far the most illuminating and important contribution yet made to the critical study of Borrow’s Ballads, a study which has hitherto been both meagre and inadequate. Not only does Mr. Gosse handle the three Songs particularly before him, and make clear the relationship they bear to each other, but he deals with the whole subject of the p. 266origin of Borrow’s Scandinavian Ballads, and traces fully and precisely the immediate source from which their author derived them. One of Borrow’s most vivid records Mr. ”

“ Upon the reverse of p. 27 is the following imprint: “London: / Printed for Thomas J. Wise, Hampstead, N.W. / Edition limited to Thirty Copies.” The signatures are A (a quarter-sheet of two leaves) , B (a half-sheet of four leaves) , and C (a full sheet of eight leaves) , each inset within the other.
Issued in bright green paper wrappers, with untrimmed edges, and with the title-page reproduced upon the front. The leaves measure 81⁄2 × 67⁄8 inches.
Thirty Copies only were printed.
The Frontispiece is a reduced facsimile of the first page of the original Manuscript of Ramund. ”

“ Death. [Perhaps ’tis folly, but still I feel]
Reprinted (under the amended title Thoughts on Death, and with some small textual variations) in Romantic Ballads, 1826, pp. 169–170.
Another version of the same poem was printed (under the title A Survey of Death, the first line reading My blood is freezing, my senses reel) in Mollie Charane and Other Ballads, 1913, pp. 11–12.
P. 246.
Mountain Song. [That pathway before ye, so narrow and gray]
Pp. 306–309.
Danish Poetry and Ballad Writing. A Prose Essay, including, inter alia, the following Ballad:
Skion Middel. ”

“ William Knapp.
An edition of Lavengro, with a valuable Introduction by Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton, was published by Messrs. Ward, Lock & Co., in 1893. The work is also included in Everyman’s Library, and in other series of popular reprints.
When put to press in February, 1849, the first volume of Lavengro was set up with the title-page reading as follows:—
Life, A Drama. / By / George Borrow, Esq., / Author of “The Bible in Spain,” etc. / In Three Volumes. / Vol. i. / London: / John Murray, Albemarle Street. ”

“ As is usually the case when two Manuscripts of one of Borrow’s ballads are available, the difference in poetical value of the two versions of Hafbur and Signe is considerably. Few examples could exhibit more distinctly the advance made by Borrow in the art of poetical composition during the interval. Here are some stanzas from the version of 1854. ”

“ 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. ”