George Borrow: The Man and His Books

Transcribed from the 1912 Chapman & Hall edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org
by EDWARD THOMAS
Author of
“THE LIFE OF RICHARD JEFFERIES,” “LIGHT AND TWILIGHT,” “REST AND UNREST,” “MAURICE MAETERLINCK,” Etc.
WITH PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON CHAPMAN & HALL, Ltd. 1912
Printed by Jas. Truscott and Son, Ltd., London, E.C.
The late Dr. W. I. Knapp’s Life (John Murray) and Mr. Watts-Dunton’s prefaces are the fountains of information about Borrow, and I have clearly indicated how much I owe to them. What I owe to my friend, Mr. Thomas Seccombe, cannot be so clearly indicated, but his prefaces have been meat and drink to me. I have also used Mr. R. A. J. Walling’s sympathetic and interesting “George Borrow.” The British and Foreign Bible Society has given me permission to quote from Borrow’s letters to the Society, edited in 1911 by the Rev. T. H. Darlow; and Messrs. T. C. Cantrill and J. Pringle have put at my disposal their publication of Borrow’s journal of his second Welsh tour, wonderfully annotated by themselves (“Y Cymmrodor,” 1910). These and other sources are mentioned where they are used and in the bibliography.
My Dear Haynes,
By dedicating this book to you, I believe it is my privilege to introduce you and Borrow. This were sufficient reason for the dedication. The many better reasons are beyond my eloquence, much though I have remembered them this winter, listening to the storms of Caermarthen Bay, the screams of pigs, and the street tunes of “Fall in and follow me,” “Yip-i-addy,” and “The first good joy that Mary had.”
Yours, EDWARD THOMAS.