LAVENGRO. George Borrow's gro,) published in 1851, and its sequel, Romany Rye' (1857), constitute virtually a single work dealing with the author's experi ences as a wanderer in Englan'd and particularly with his adventures among the gypsies. Within the scope of the picturesque and whimsical narrative is contained a strange medley of novel incidents and curious lore—conversa tions with apple-women and post-boys and wayfaring priests, much talk of prize-fights and prize-fighters, and many remarkable de tails of gypsy life and manners. The inimi table personalities of the gypsies, Mr. and Mrs. Petulengro, with whom the author is on terms of intimacy, recur at intervals, and their in teresting domestic arrangements, their naive ideas of morality and their strange dialect afford an abundance of humor. The name Lavengro, word-master, is applied by them to the author because of his knowledge of lan guages and his interest in the curiosities of philology.
Beginning in and running half through Romany Rye' is the delightful episode of the author's encounter with Isopel Berners. Isopel, an Amazon in strength, ca gable of defending herself against all corners, but dignified, beautifully simple and as pure in spirit as the stars under which she sleeps alone, is a uniquely interesting heroine, and the brief romance between her and the author is handled with a delicacy and charm which ally Borrow with the great masters of English fiction. 'Lavengro' and 'The Romany Rye' are not as widely read as they deserve to be. Of all books which embody the romance of the open road they are the most delightful. Con sult editions of (Lavengro,) with introductions, by W. I. Knapp (1900) and by F. Hindes Groome (1901) • Seccombe, Thomas, (Isopel Berners,' selected from (Lavengro) and 'The Romany Rye' ; Walker, Hugh, The Literature of the Victorian Ere (1042 ff.).