George Borrow

a.k.a. George Henry Borrow

Author Code: EGBW

The son of a soldier, Borrow travelled throughout the British Isles as his father's regiment frequently moved base. He was educated at a Norwich grammar school where his linguistic skills became evident. After a short and unsuccessful apprenticeship in law, Borrow moved to London where he stayed for about a year before once again travelling in rural England. His first work, Romantic Ballads (a translation from Danish), was published in 1826. Borrow worked for a Bible society in Spain and accumulated much material for some of his later works. In 1841, he published The Zincali: An Account of the Gypsies in Spain and followed this in 1842 with The Bible in Spain, which was an extremely successful travel book at the time. In 1851, he produced his masterpiece, Lavengro and in 1857, The Romany Rye. Borrow is considered by many to be one of the most imaginative minor prose writers of the 19th century.