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Changed the authority for the etymology of the word lavengro from The Romany Rye to Lavengro itself
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{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Infobox Book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->▼
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2013}}
▲{{Infobox Bookbook | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
| name = Lavengro
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = <!--preferLavengro 1st edition-->ed.jpg
| caption = First edition title page
| image_caption =
| author = [[George Borrow]]
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|United Kingdom]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| series =
| genre = [[Autobiographical novel]]
| publisher = [[John Murray (publisherpublishing house)|John Murray]]
| release_date = 1851
| english_release_date =
| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover|Hardback]]hardback)
| pages =
| isbn preceded_by = NA
| preceded_by =
| followed_by = [[The Romany Rye]]
}}
'''''Lavengro: The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest''''' ([[1851 in literature|1851]]) is a work by [[George Borrow]], falling somewhere between the genres of memoir and novel, which has long been considered a classic of 19th -century English literature. According to the author, ''{{lang|rom|lav-engro''}} is a [[Romani language|Romany]] word meaning "word master".<ref>George Borrow ''Lavengro'' (London: John Murray, 1851) p. 108.</ref> The historian [[G. M. Trevelyan]] called it "a book that breathes the spirit of that period of strong and eccentric characters".<ref>George M. Trevelyan ''British History in the Nineteenth Century and After (1782-19191782–1919)'' (London: Longmans, Green, 1941) p. 171.</ref> Its protagonist, whose name is never mentioned, is born the son of an officer in a militia regiment and is consequently brought up in various barrack towns in England, Scotland and Ireland. After serving an apprenticeship to a lawyer he decides to become an author instead, but his lack of any notable success in this line gives him ample opportunities to observe London low-life. Finally he takes to the road and associates with Romany travellers, of whom he gives memorable and generally sympathetic pen-portraits. ''Lavengro'' was followed by a sequel, ''[[The Romany Rye]]''.
 
Its protagonist, whose name is George, is born the son of an officer in a militia regiment and is brought up in various barrack towns in England, Scotland and Ireland. After serving an apprenticeship to a lawyer he moves to London and becomes a [[Grub Street]] hack, an occupation which gives him ample opportunities to observe London low-life. Finally he takes to the road as a tinker. At various points through the book he associates with Romany travellers, of whom he gives memorable and generally sympathetic pen-portraits. ''Lavengro'' was followed by a sequel, ''[[The Romany Rye]]''. However, neither of the two books are self-contained. Rather, ''Lavengro'' ends abruptly with chapter 100, and carries on directly in ''The Romany Rye''. Thus, both need to be read together, in order.
Borrow began work on ''Lavengro'' in 1842 and had written most of it by the end of 1843, but progress was then interrupted by a tour of eastern Europe and by bouts of ill-health, physical and mental.<ref>Herbert Jenkins ''The Life of George Borrow'' (London: John Murray, 1912) p. 366</ref> He certainly intended the book to be an autobiography when he first set to work, and while writing it he more than once called it his Life in letters to his publisher, [[John Murray (publisher)|John Murray]]. In 1848 Murray advertised it as a forthcoming work to be called ''Lavengro, an Autobiography''.<ref>Herbert Jenkins ''The Life of George Borrow'' (London: John Murray, 1912) pp. 366, 388</ref> However the version Borrow finally delivered had been reshaped into an [[Autobiographical novel|autobiographical novel]] whose fictional episodes are inextricably intertwined with genuine memoir.<ref>[[Walter Starkie]], in his introduction to the Everyman edition, says, "We should approach ''Lavengro-Romany Rye'' as we do [[James Joyce]]'s [[autobiographical novel]] ''[[A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man]]''."</ref> Only the "scholar" in the book's subtitle refers to Borrow.<ref>"Should you imagine that these three form one, permit me to assure you that you are very much mistaken." (Author's Preface to the First Edition)</ref>▼
 
▲Borrow began work on ''Lavengro'' in 1842 and had written most of it by the end of 1843, but progress was then interrupted by a tour of eastern Europe and by bouts of ill-health, physical and mental.<ref>Herbert Jenkins ''The Life of George Borrow'' (London: John Murray, 1912) p. 366</ref> He certainly intended the book to be an autobiography when he first set to work, and while writing it he more than once called it his Life in letters to his publisher, [[John Murray (publisherpublishing house)|John Murray]]. In 1848 Murray advertised it as a forthcoming work to be called ''Lavengro, an Autobiography''.<ref>Herbert Jenkins ''The Life of George Borrow'' (London: John Murray, 1912) pp. 366, 388</ref> However the version Borrow finally delivered had been reshaped into an [[Autobiographical novel|autobiographical novel]] whose fictional episodes are inextricably intertwined with genuine memoir.<ref>[[Walter Starkie]], in his introduction to the Everyman edition, says, "We should approach ''Lavengro-Romany Rye'' as we do [[James Joyce]]'s [[autobiographical novel]] ''[[A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man]]''."</ref> Only the "scholar" in the book's subtitle refers to Borrow.<ref>"Should you imagine that these three form one, permit me to assure you that you are very much mistaken." (Author's Preface to the First Edition)</ref>
The first edition had a print-run of only 3000 copies, yet the book was such a slow seller that no reprint was needed until 1872.<ref>George A. Stephen ''Borrow House Museum: A Brief Account of the Life of George Borrow and his Norwich Home, with a Bibliography'' (Norwich: Norwich Public Libraries Committee, 1927) p. 18; Herbert Jenkins ''The Life of George Borrow'' (London: John Murray, 1912) p. 390.</ref> Nor was it a critical success, reviewers being annoyed by the mix of fact and fiction and finding the treatment of Romany life insufficiently quaint. ''[[Blackwood's Magazine]]'' brought in a typical verdict:▼
 
▲The first edition had a print-run of only 3000 copies,; yet the bookit was such a slow seller that no reprint was needed until 1872.<ref>George A. Stephen ''Borrow House Museum: A Brief Account of the Life of George Borrow and his Norwich Home, with a Bibliography'' (Norwich: Norwich Public Libraries Committee, 1927) p. 18; Herbert Jenkins ''The Life of George Borrow'' (London: John Murray, 1912) p. 390.</ref> Nor was it a critical success, reviewers being annoyed by the mix of fact and fiction and finding the treatment of Romany life insufficiently quaint. ''[[Blackwood's Magazine]]'' brought in a typical verdict:
<blockquote>We looked for some new revelations on the subjects of fortune-telling, hocus-pocus, and glamour. Lavengro, with his three attributes like those of [[Vishnu]], might possibly be the Grand [[Cacique|Cazique]], the supreme prince of the nation of tinkers!
 
We have read the book, and we are disappointed. The performance bears no adequate relation to the promise…The adventures, though interesting in their way, neither bear the impress of the stamp of truth, nor are they so arranged as to make the work valuable, if we consider it in the light of fiction.<ref>''Blackwood's Magazine'' vol. 69, p. 323.</ref></blockquote>
 
After Borrow's death in 1881 ''Lavengro'' began to find a new audience and enthusiastic praise from critics. [[Theodore Watts-Dunton|Theodore Watts]], in an introduction to the 1893 edition, declared that "There are passages in ''Lavengro'' which are unsurpassed in the prose literature of England".<ref>George Borrow ''Lavengro'' (London: Ward, Lock, Bowden, 1893) p. vii.</ref> This edition started a run of reprints which produced one or more almost every year for 60 years. ''Lavengro'' was included in the [[Oxford University Press]]'s [[Oxford World's Classics|World's Classics]] series in 1904, and in [[Everyman's Library]] in 1906.<ref>[http://copac.ac.uk/search?au=borrow&ti=lavengro&sort-order=date Catalogue entry] at [[Copac]].</ref>
 
== Notes ==
{{reflist}}
 
== External links ==
{{wikisource}}▼
'''Full-text online editions'''
* [http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/borrow/george/lavengro/index.html eBooks@Adelaide]
* [http://www.fullbooks.com/Lavengro.html FullBooks]
* [http://www.archive.org/stream/lavengroscholar07borrgoog/lavengroscholar07borrgoog_djvu.txt Internet Archive]▼
* [http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/george-borrow/lavengro-the-scholar-the-gypsy-the-priest-254.shtml www.ebooksread.com]
* [http://www.topboookz.com/G/George_Borrow/Lavengro/read_book.html Topboookz]
* [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=K5UQAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false Google Books]
 
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/george-borrow/lavengro}}
 
* {{librivox book | title=Lavengro | author= George Borrow}}
'''Criticism'''
▲* [httphttps://www.archive.org/stream/lavengroscholar07borrgoog/lavengroscholar07borrgoog_djvu.txt Page scans at the Internet Archive]
* [http://www.acampbell.ukfsn.org/bookreviews/r/borrow.html Review] of ''Lavengro'' and ''[[The Romany Rye]]'' by [[Anthony Campbell (physician)|Anthony Campbell]]
▲{{wikisource}}
 
[[Category:1851 British novels]]
[[Category:English novels]]
[[Category:AutobiographicalBritish autobiographical novels]]
[[Category:RomaFictional representations of Romani people]]
[[Category:George Borrow]]
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