(7) [The Zincali: 1841]

The Zincali; / Or, / An Account / of the / Gypsies of Spain. / With / An Original Collection of their /

Songs and Poetry, / and / A Copious Dictionary of their Language. / By / George Borrow, / Late Agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society / in Spain. / “For that, which is unclean by nature, thou canst entertain no hope: no / washing will turn the Gypsy white.”—Ferdousi. / In Two Volumes. / Vol. I. [Vol. II] / London: / John Murray, Albemarle Street. / 1841.

Vol. I.

Collation:—Large duodecimo, pp. xvi + 362; consisting of: Half-title (with imprint “G. Woodfall and Son, Angel Court, Skinner Street, London” upon the centre of the reverse) pp. i–ii; Title-page, as above (with blank reverse) pp. iii–iv; Dedication To the Right Honourable the Earl of Clarendon, G.C.B. (with blank reverse) pp. v–vi; Preface pp. vii–xii; Table of Contents pp. xiii–xvi; and Text pp. 1–362, including a separate Fly-title (with blank reverse) to The Zincali, Part II. There are headlines throughout, each verso being headed The Zincali, whilst each recto carries at its head a note of the particular subject occupying it. The imprint is repeated at the foot of p. 362. The signatures are a (six leaves), b (two leaves), B to Q (15 sheets, each 12 leaves), plus R (two leaves). Sig. R 2 is a blank.

Vol. II.

Collation:—Large duodecimo, pp. vi + 156 + vi + *135; consisting of: Half-title (with imprint “G. Woodfall and Son, Angel Court, Skinner Street, London” upon

the centre of the reverse) pp. i–ii; Title-page, as above (with blank reverse) pp. iii–iv; Table of Contents pp. v–vi; Fly-title to The Zincali, Part III (with blank reverse) pp. 1–2; Text of Part III (including separate Fly-titles, each with blank reverse, to The Praise of Buddh, On the Language of the Gitanos, and Robber Language) pp. 3–156; Fly-title (with blank reverse) to The Zincali. Vocabulary of their Language pp. i–ii; Advertisement to the Vocabulary pp. iii–v; p. vi is blank; Text of the Vocabulary pp. *1–*113; p. *114 is blank; Fly-title (with blank reverse) to Miscellanies in the Gitano Language pp. *115–*116; Advertisement to the Miscellanies p. *117; and Text of the Miscellanies pp. *118–*135. The reverse of p. *135 is blank. There are head-lines throughout, each verso being headed The Zincali, whilst each recto carries at its head a note of the particular subject occupying it. The imprint is repeated at the foot of p. *135. The signatures are a (2 leaves), b (one leaf), B to G (6 sheets, each 12 leaves), H (6 leaves), a (3 leaves), b to e (4 sheets, each 12 leaves), f (9 leaves), and g (12 leaves). b 6, b 8, and b 12 are cancel-leaves. The last leaf of Sig. g is occupied by a series of Advertisements of Works just Published by John Murray.

Issued (in April, 1841) in dark blue cloth boards, with white paper back-label, lettered “Borrow’s / Gypsies / of / Spain. / Two Volumes. / Vol. I. [Vol. II.].” The leaves measure 7⅞ × 4¾ inches. The published price was 18s.

Of the First Edition of The Zincali Seven Hundred and Fifty Copies only were printed. A Second Edition, to which a new

Preface was added, was published in March, 1843, and a Third in September, 1843, each of which was restricted to the same number of copies. The Fourth Edition appeared in 1846, the Fifth in 1870, the Sixth in 1882, the Seventh in 1888, and the Eighth in 1893. The book has since been included in various popular editions, and translated into several foreign languages.

Examples of The Zincali may sometimes be met with bearing dates other than those noted above. These are merely copies of the editions specified, furnished with new title-pages.

Included in the second volume of The Zincali is a considerable amount of verse, as follows:

page
Rhymes of the Gitanos. [Unto a refuge me they led] 13
The Deluge. Part I. [I with fear and terror quake] 65
The Deluge. Part II. [When I last did bid farewell] 75
The Pestilence. [I’m resolved now to tell] The whole of the above pieces are accompanied on the opposite pages by the original texts from which Borrow translated them. 85
Poem, Relating to the Worship of the great Foutsa or Buddh. [Should I Foutsa’s force and glory] Previously printed in Targum, 1835, p. 13. 94

There is a copy of the First Edition of The Zincali in the Library of the British Museum. The Press-mark is 1429.g.14.