Borrow, George

Borrow, George, a noted Bible student, was born in Norfolk, England; in 1803. He was the son of an officer of the British army, and was intended for the law, but he early devoted his attention to literature. Having acquired a knowledge of the Gypsy language from some bands which encamped near Norwich, he commenced travelling among them and for years led a wandering life. In 1833 he became an agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and labored in Russia. While in St. Petersburg he edited the New Testament in the Chinese Tartar language. He then pursued his Bible labors in Spain, and was twice imprisoned for circulating the Scriptures. While in Spain he translated the New Testament into the Gypsy language. After this he returned to England and gave himself up to literary pursuits, the first result of which was a book entitled Zincali, or an Account of the Gypsies, published in 1841. His researches showed that the Gypsy language was closely connected with the Sanscrit. In 1843 he published The Bible in Spain, a work that was warmly praised by Sir Robert Peel in the House of Commons, and of which the (Lond.) Quarterly Review said, "As a book of adventures, it seems about the most extraordinary which has appeared in our or any other language for a long time past." Mr. Borrow wrote several other works of great popularity, such as Lavengro, the Scholar, the Gypsy, and the Priest (London, 1851, 3 vols.): — and The Romany Rye. He died in London, Aug. 3, 1881; See Allibone, Dict. of Brit. and Amer. Authors, s.v. (W. P.S.)