The Life of George Borrow [169]
to which men of genius (and this description will be allowed him by many) are often subject.
"On another occasion, when dining with my father at Wimbledon, he was regaled with a 'haggis,' a dish which was new to him, and of which he partook to an extent which would have astonished many a hardy Scotsman. One summers day, several years later, he again came to dinner, and having come on foot, entered the house by a garden door, his first words--without any previous greetings--were: 'Is there a haggis to-day?'" {386a}
CHAPTER XXIV: LAVENGRO--1843-1851
During all these years Lavengro had been making progress towards completion, irregular and spasmodic it would appear; but still each year brought it nearer to the printer. "I cannot get out of my old habits," Borrow wrote to Dawson Turner (15th January 1844), "I find I am writing the work . . . in precisely the same manner as The Bible in Spain, viz., on blank sheets of old account books, backs of letters, etc. In slovenliness of manuscript I almost rival Mahomet, who, it is said, wrote his Coran on mutton spade bones." "His [Borrow's] biography will be passing strange if he tells the WHOLE truth," Ford writes to a friend (27th February 1843). "He is now writing it by my advice. I go on . . . scribbling away, though with a palpitating heart," Borrow informs John Murray (5th February 1844), "and have already plenty of scenes and dialogues connected with my life, quite equal to anything in The Bible in Spain. The great difficulty, however, is to blend them all into a symmetrical whole." On 17th September 1846 he writes again to his publisher:
"I have of late been very lazy, and am become more addicted to sleep than usual, am seriously afraid of apoplexy. To rouse myself, I rode a little time ago to Newmarket. I felt all the better for it for a few days. I have at present a first rate trotting horse who affords me plenty of exercise. On my return from Newmarket, I rode him nineteen miles before breakfast."
Another cause of delay was the "shadows" that were constantly descending upon him. His determination to give only the best of which he was capable, is almost tragic in the light of later events. To his wife, he wrote from London (February 1847): "Saw M[urray] who is in a hurry for me to begin [the printing]. I will not be hurried though for anyone."
In the Quarterly Review, July 1848, under the heading of Mr Murray's List of New Works in Preparation, there appeared the first announcement of Lavengro, an Autobiography, by George Borrow, Author of The Bible in Spain, etc., 4 vols. post 8vo. This was repeated in October. During the next two months the book was advertised as Life; A Drama, in The Athenaeum and The Quarterly Review, and the first title-page (1849) was so printed. On 7th October John Murray wrote asking Borrow to send the manuscript to the printer. This was accordingly done, and about two-thirds of it composed. Then Borrow appears to have fallen ill. On 5th January 1849 John Murray wrote to Mrs Borrow:
"I trust Mr Borrow is now restored to health and tranquillity of mind, and that he will soon be able to resume his pen. I desire this on his own account and for the sake of poor Woodfall [the printer], who is of course inconvenienced by having his press arrested after the commencement of the printing."
Writing on 27th November 1849, John Murray refers to the work having been "first sent to press--now nearly eighteen months." This is clearly a mistake, as on 7th October 1848, thirteen and a half months previously, he asks Borrow to send the manuscript to the printer that he may begin the composition. John Murray was getting anxious and urges Borrow to complete the work, which a year ago had been offered to the booksellers at the annual trade-dinner.
"I know that you are fastidious, and that you desire to produce a work of distinguished excellence. I see the result of this labour in the sheets as they come from the press, and I think when it does appear it will make a sensation," wrote the tactful publisher.
"On another occasion, when dining with my father at Wimbledon, he was regaled with a 'haggis,' a dish which was new to him, and of which he partook to an extent which would have astonished many a hardy Scotsman. One summers day, several years later, he again came to dinner, and having come on foot, entered the house by a garden door, his first words--without any previous greetings--were: 'Is there a haggis to-day?'" {386a}
CHAPTER XXIV: LAVENGRO--1843-1851
During all these years Lavengro had been making progress towards completion, irregular and spasmodic it would appear; but still each year brought it nearer to the printer. "I cannot get out of my old habits," Borrow wrote to Dawson Turner (15th January 1844), "I find I am writing the work . . . in precisely the same manner as The Bible in Spain, viz., on blank sheets of old account books, backs of letters, etc. In slovenliness of manuscript I almost rival Mahomet, who, it is said, wrote his Coran on mutton spade bones." "His [Borrow's] biography will be passing strange if he tells the WHOLE truth," Ford writes to a friend (27th February 1843). "He is now writing it by my advice. I go on . . . scribbling away, though with a palpitating heart," Borrow informs John Murray (5th February 1844), "and have already plenty of scenes and dialogues connected with my life, quite equal to anything in The Bible in Spain. The great difficulty, however, is to blend them all into a symmetrical whole." On 17th September 1846 he writes again to his publisher:
"I have of late been very lazy, and am become more addicted to sleep than usual, am seriously afraid of apoplexy. To rouse myself, I rode a little time ago to Newmarket. I felt all the better for it for a few days. I have at present a first rate trotting horse who affords me plenty of exercise. On my return from Newmarket, I rode him nineteen miles before breakfast."
Another cause of delay was the "shadows" that were constantly descending upon him. His determination to give only the best of which he was capable, is almost tragic in the light of later events. To his wife, he wrote from London (February 1847): "Saw M[urray] who is in a hurry for me to begin [the printing]. I will not be hurried though for anyone."
In the Quarterly Review, July 1848, under the heading of Mr Murray's List of New Works in Preparation, there appeared the first announcement of Lavengro, an Autobiography, by George Borrow, Author of The Bible in Spain, etc., 4 vols. post 8vo. This was repeated in October. During the next two months the book was advertised as Life; A Drama, in The Athenaeum and The Quarterly Review, and the first title-page (1849) was so printed. On 7th October John Murray wrote asking Borrow to send the manuscript to the printer. This was accordingly done, and about two-thirds of it composed. Then Borrow appears to have fallen ill. On 5th January 1849 John Murray wrote to Mrs Borrow:
"I trust Mr Borrow is now restored to health and tranquillity of mind, and that he will soon be able to resume his pen. I desire this on his own account and for the sake of poor Woodfall [the printer], who is of course inconvenienced by having his press arrested after the commencement of the printing."
Writing on 27th November 1849, John Murray refers to the work having been "first sent to press--now nearly eighteen months." This is clearly a mistake, as on 7th October 1848, thirteen and a half months previously, he asks Borrow to send the manuscript to the printer that he may begin the composition. John Murray was getting anxious and urges Borrow to complete the work, which a year ago had been offered to the booksellers at the annual trade-dinner.
"I know that you are fastidious, and that you desire to produce a work of distinguished excellence. I see the result of this labour in the sheets as they come from the press, and I think when it does appear it will make a sensation," wrote the tactful publisher.