Lavengro : the scholar, the Gypsy, the priest
1900
Book digitized by Google from the library of Harvard University and uploaded to the Internet Archive by user tpb. xxv, 569 pages, 11 unnumbered leaves of plates ; 21 cm 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 lav-engro is a Romany word meaning "word master". 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 "A new edition containing the unaltered text of the original issue; some suppressed episodes; ms. variorum, vocabulary and notes by the author of The life of George Borrow." Sequel: Romany rye
