The Life of George Borrow [153]
until I ached in every joint with the vividness of his descriptions."
In all this chorus of praise there was the complaint of the Dublin Review that "Borrow was a missionary sent out by a gang of conspirators against Christianity." Borrow's comment upon this notice was that "It is easier to call names and misquote passages in a dirty Review than to write The Bible in Spain."
A second edition of The Bible in Spain was issued in January, to which the author contributed a preface, "very funny, but wild," he assured John Murray, Junr., and he promised "yet another preface for the third edition, should one be called for." The third edition appeared in March, the fourth in June, and the fifth in July. When the Fourth Edition was nearing completion Borrow wrote to Murray: "Would it be as well to write a preface to this FOURTH edition with a tirade or two against the Pope, and allusions to the Great North Road?" To which Murray replied, "With due submission to you as author, I would suggest that you should not abuse the Pope in the new preface."
In the flush of his success Borrow could afford to laugh at the few cavilling critics.
"Let them call me a nonentity if they will," he wrote to John Murray, Junr. (13th March). "I believe that some of those, who say I am a phantom, would alter their tone provided they were to ask me to a good dinner; bottles emptied and fowls devoured are not exactly the feats of a phantom. No! I partake more of the nature of a Brownie or Robin Goodfellow, goblins, 'tis true, but full of merriment and fun, and fond of good eating and drinking."
America echoed back the praise and bought the book in thousands. Publishers issued editions in Philadelphia and New York; but Borrow did not participate in the profits, as there was then no copyright protection for English books in the United States of America. The Athenaeum reported (27th May 1843) that 30,000 copies had been sold in America. "I really never heard of anything so infamous," wrote Borrow to his wife. The only thing that America gave him was praise and (in common with other countries) a place in its biographical dictionaries and encyclopaedias. The Bible in Spain was translated into French and German and subsequently (abridged) into Russian.
What appeared to please Borrow most was Sir Robert Peel's reference to him in the House of Commons, although he regretted the scanty report of the speech given in the newspapers. Replying to Dr Bowring's (at that time Borrow's friend) motion "for copies of the correspondence of the British Government with the Porte on the subject of the Bishop of Jerusalem," Sir Robert remarked: "If Mr Borrow had been deterred by trifling obstacles, the circulation of the Bible in Spain would never have been advanced to the extent which it had happily attained. If he had not persevered he would not have been the agent of so much enlightment." {352a}
There were many things that contributed to the instantaneous success of The Bible in Spain. Apart from the vivid picture that it gave of the indomitable courage and iron determination of a man commanding success, its literary qualities, and enthralling interest, its greatest commercial asset lay in its appeal to the Religious Public. Never, perhaps, had they been invited to read such a book, because never had the Bible been distributed by so amazing a missionary as George Borrow. Gil Blas with a touch of Bunyan, as Ford delightfully phrased it, and not too much Bunyan. Thieves, murderers, gypsies, bandits, prisons, wars--all knit together by the missionary work of a man who was persona grata with every lawless ruffian he encountered, and yet a sower of the seed. The Religious Public did not pause to ponder over the strangeness of the situation. They had fallen among thieves, and with breathless eagerness were prepared to enjoy to the full the novel experience.
Here was a religious book full of the most exquisite material thrills without a suggestion of a spiritual moral. Criminals were encountered, their deeds rehearsed and the customary
In all this chorus of praise there was the complaint of the Dublin Review that "Borrow was a missionary sent out by a gang of conspirators against Christianity." Borrow's comment upon this notice was that "It is easier to call names and misquote passages in a dirty Review than to write The Bible in Spain."
A second edition of The Bible in Spain was issued in January, to which the author contributed a preface, "very funny, but wild," he assured John Murray, Junr., and he promised "yet another preface for the third edition, should one be called for." The third edition appeared in March, the fourth in June, and the fifth in July. When the Fourth Edition was nearing completion Borrow wrote to Murray: "Would it be as well to write a preface to this FOURTH edition with a tirade or two against the Pope, and allusions to the Great North Road?" To which Murray replied, "With due submission to you as author, I would suggest that you should not abuse the Pope in the new preface."
In the flush of his success Borrow could afford to laugh at the few cavilling critics.
"Let them call me a nonentity if they will," he wrote to John Murray, Junr. (13th March). "I believe that some of those, who say I am a phantom, would alter their tone provided they were to ask me to a good dinner; bottles emptied and fowls devoured are not exactly the feats of a phantom. No! I partake more of the nature of a Brownie or Robin Goodfellow, goblins, 'tis true, but full of merriment and fun, and fond of good eating and drinking."
America echoed back the praise and bought the book in thousands. Publishers issued editions in Philadelphia and New York; but Borrow did not participate in the profits, as there was then no copyright protection for English books in the United States of America. The Athenaeum reported (27th May 1843) that 30,000 copies had been sold in America. "I really never heard of anything so infamous," wrote Borrow to his wife. The only thing that America gave him was praise and (in common with other countries) a place in its biographical dictionaries and encyclopaedias. The Bible in Spain was translated into French and German and subsequently (abridged) into Russian.
What appeared to please Borrow most was Sir Robert Peel's reference to him in the House of Commons, although he regretted the scanty report of the speech given in the newspapers. Replying to Dr Bowring's (at that time Borrow's friend) motion "for copies of the correspondence of the British Government with the Porte on the subject of the Bishop of Jerusalem," Sir Robert remarked: "If Mr Borrow had been deterred by trifling obstacles, the circulation of the Bible in Spain would never have been advanced to the extent which it had happily attained. If he had not persevered he would not have been the agent of so much enlightment." {352a}
There were many things that contributed to the instantaneous success of The Bible in Spain. Apart from the vivid picture that it gave of the indomitable courage and iron determination of a man commanding success, its literary qualities, and enthralling interest, its greatest commercial asset lay in its appeal to the Religious Public. Never, perhaps, had they been invited to read such a book, because never had the Bible been distributed by so amazing a missionary as George Borrow. Gil Blas with a touch of Bunyan, as Ford delightfully phrased it, and not too much Bunyan. Thieves, murderers, gypsies, bandits, prisons, wars--all knit together by the missionary work of a man who was persona grata with every lawless ruffian he encountered, and yet a sower of the seed. The Religious Public did not pause to ponder over the strangeness of the situation. They had fallen among thieves, and with breathless eagerness were prepared to enjoy to the full the novel experience.
Here was a religious book full of the most exquisite material thrills without a suggestion of a spiritual moral. Criminals were encountered, their deeds rehearsed and the customary