All of George Borrow’s major works, published during his lifetime, are now out of copyright and as such you can obtain free copies of all of the books to read on your eBook reader, phone or computer.
The free eBooks listed below are also very useful for research as you can search for words and phrases, something which is very time consuming if you only have the printed book. If you cannot remember where Petulengro reminded Borrow of the money he lent him, you have only to download the eBooks and search.
The books below are all available via Project Gutenberg, a non-profit organisation which makes available out of copy books.
Title of Book |
Edition |
Gutenberg number |
Notes |
Romantic Ballads |
1913 Jarrold and Sons |
Exact copy of the original edition. Mainly translations of Danish ballads, but lots of other languages also translated. |
|
Faustus |
1864 W. Kent and Co. |
Translation of Klinger’s re-telling of the legend of Fautus. George Borrow’s translation was publically burned at Norwich! |
|
Targum |
The 1913(?) Jarrold reprint |
Translations of poetry from thirty different languages |
|
The Talisman |
The 1913(?) Jarrold reprint |
Translation of some of Pushkin’s poems, and other Russian translations |
|
Embéo e Majaró Lucas |
1837 (Madrid) |
Borrow’s translation of the Gospel of Luke into Caló, the language of the Spanish Gypsies (entirely in Caló) |
|
The Zincali |
1901 John Murray |
All about the Gypsies of Spain and their language. This transcription lacks the Caló vocabulary. |
|
The Bible in Spain |
1908 Cassell and Company |
Cheap edition without notes or pictures. About Borrow’s five years in the Peninsula |
|
The Bible in Spain |
1896 John Murray (2 vols.) |
Edited by Spanish scholar Ulick Ralph Burke, lots of background information, with pictures |
|
Lavengro |
1911 John Murray |
Edited by Knapp. Knapp’s notes at the end made lots of things known for the first time. Generally considered an authoritive edition. Includes illustrations. |
|
Lavengro |
1914 T. N. Foulis |
No editor but beautiful colour pictures by Edmund J. Sullivan. |
|
Lavengro |
1900 Macmillan and Co. |
Black and white illustrations by Edmund J. Sullivan, and an introduction by Augustine Birrell |
|
Lavengro |
1901 Methuen & Co. (2 vols.) |
Edited by Gypsy scholar Francis Hindes Groom. Good introduction on gypsy matters. |
|
Lavengro |
1893 Ward, Lock, Bowden, and Co. |
Contains a valuable introduction by George Borrow’s friend Theodore Watts-Dunton and illustrations. |
|
The Romany Rye |
1900 Ward, Lock and Co. |
Valuable introduction by George Borrow’s friend Theodore Watts-Dunton and black and white illustrations |
|
The Romany Rye |
1907 John Murray |
???? |
Edited by Knapp and contains very valuable notes, list of gypsy words and bibliography. Illustrated in black and white |
The Romany Rye |
1903 Methuen & Co. |
Valuable introduction and notes by gypsy scholar John Sampson, some illustrations |
|
The Romany Rye |
1907 J. M. Dent |
Just the text, no illustration nor editor’s notes |
|
The Sleeping Bard |
1860 John Murray |
Borrow’s spirited translation of Ellis Wyn’s classic tale of a trip to see the World, the kingdom of Death and Hell. |
|
The Welsh and Their Literature |
1861 London Quarterly Review |
Long essay on the Welsh and their literature where Borrow reviews his own translation of The Sleeping Bard(!) |
|
Wild Wales |
1907 John Murray |
The illustrations aren’t included because of copyright issues |
|
Wild Wales |
1906 June J. M. Dent |
Valuable introduction by Borrow’s friend Theodore Watts-Dunton, no illustrations |
|
Romano Lavo-Lil |
1905 John Murray |
Borrow’s word book of the Romany language |
|
The Turkish Jester |
1924 Norwich Edition(?) |
Borrow’s translation of unusual set of Turkish stories |
|
Letters of George Borrow to the British and Foreign Bible Society |
1911, Hodder and Stoughton |
Unfortunately this transcription lacks the valuable notes by Darlow |
There’s also books which are excepts from George Borrow’s works:
Title |
Edition |
Gutenberg number |
Notes |
Isopel Berners |
1901 Hodder and Stoughton |
Valuable introduction by Thomas Seccombe, contains the story of the Dingle as found in Lavengro and Romany Rye |
|
The Pocket George Borrow |
1912 Chatto & Windus |
Edward Thomas picks his favourite passages |
There’s also a number of free biographical and background works:
Title |
Edition |
Gutenberg number |
Notes |
The Life of George Borrow |
1912 John Murray |
Readable and detailed biography of George Borrow by Herbert Jenkins |
|
George Borrow in East Anglia |
1896 David Nutt |
Rather cursary biography of George Borrow which doesn’t really deal much with East Anglia |
|
George Borrow: The Man and his Books |
1912 Chapman and Hall |
Edward Thomas gives a potted biography and considers the literary aspects of Borrow |
|
George Borrow 1913 Celebration |
1913 Jarrold and Sons |
Biography, illustrations, and what happened at the “centenary” of George Borrow’s birth (which was 10 years too late!) |
|
George Borrow: A Sermon Preached in 1913 |
1913 Jarrold and Sons |
The Bishop of Norwich’s sermon preached during the celebrations (was about George Borrow) |
|
George Borrow |
Times Literary Supplement, 10th July 1903 |
Short article about George Borrow by Thomas Seccombe |
Lastly, in 1913–1914 Thomas J. Wise published a set of 42 pamphlets containing (mainly) previously unpublished works by George Borrow. These pamphlets are all fairly short and most contain previously unpublished poetical translations. Borrovians feel that in the rush to publish Thomas J. Wise often published inferior translations (George Borrow often translated the same thing many times). The most important of the pamphlets is the “Supplemental Chapter to the Bible in Spain”, which is the review of Richard’s Ford’s Hand-book that George Borrow wrote but that wasn’t published. It does read as an excellent extra chapter to Borrow’s most famous work, even if it doesn’t really mention Ford’s Hand-book.
By way of introduction to the entire set Thomas J. Wise published a Bibliography of the Works of George Borrow, which isn’t totally accurate as far as bibliography goes, but did a splendid job of advertising his pamphlets which are dealt with at length.
Title |
Gutenberg number |
A Bibliography of the Works of George Borrow |
|
A Supplementary Chapter to The Bible in Spain |
|
The Serpent knight, and other ballads |
|
Alf the freebooter, Little Danneved and Swayne Trost, and other ballads |
|
Brown William, The power of the harp, and other ballads |
|
Emelian the fool |
|
The brother avenged, and other ballads |
|
Ermeline, a ballad |
|
Grimmer and Kamper, The end of Sivard Snarenswayne, and other ballads |
|
The expedition to Birting's land, and other ballads |
|
King Diderik and the fight between the lion and dragon, and other ballads |
|
King Hacon's death and Bran and the black dog: two ballads |
|
Little Engel, a ballad; with a series of epigrams from the Persian |
|
Marsk Stig, a ballad |
|
Marsk Stig's daughters, and other songs and ballads |
|
Niels Ebbesen and Germand Gladenswayne, two ballads |
|
The nightingale, The valkyrie and raven, the other ballads |
|
Proud Signild and other ballads |
|
Ulf Van Yern, and other ballads |
|
Axel Thordson and fair Valborg: a ballad |
|
The Return of the dead, and other ballads |
|
Mollie Charane, and other ballads |
|
The king's wake, and other ballads |
|
Hafbur and Signe: a ballad |
|
Queen Berngerd, The bard and the dreams, and other ballads |
|
The Story of Tim |
|
Child Maidelvold, and other ballads |
|
Ellen of Villenskov, and other ballads |
|
Finnish arts; or, Sir Thor and Damsel Thure: a ballad |
|
Letters to his Mother, Ann Borrow |
|
Letters to his Wife, Mary Borrow |
|
Signelil, a tale from the Cornish, and other ballads |
|
The Dalby bear, and other ballads |
|
The giant of Bern and Orm Ungerswayne: a ballad |
|
The mermaid's prophecy, and other songs relating to Queen Dagmar |
|
The Verner raven, The count of Vendel's daughter, and other ballads |
|
The song of Deirdra, King Byrge and his brothers, and other ballads |
|
The songs of Ranild |
|
The Story of Yvashka with the Bear’s Ear |
|
The tale of Brynild, and King Valdemar and his sister: two ballads |
|
Tord of Hafsborough, and other ballads |
|
Young Swaigder; or, The force of runes, and other ballads |
|
Grimhild's vengeance, and other ballads |
|
The fountain of Maribo, and other ballads |
|
The Gold Horns |
Borrovians will look through the above and ask “Where’s XYZ? How could you have missed out XYZ?” You’ll find other free eBooks about George Borrow in Gutenberg—the above isn’t exhaustive. Also, David Price, who transcribed the above for Project Gutenberg, needs to stop lazing about in coffee shops and get the two volume transcript of Knapp finished, he’s had it almost done for years now!