George Borrow, an English author, born near Norwich in February, 1803. He is the son of an officer in the army, and received his early education at various schools in England and at the high school in Edinburgh. At the age of 15 he was articled to a solicitor in Norwich, but soon turned his attention to philology, studying especially the language and habits of the gypsies, with whom he led a wandering life for some years. In 1833 he entered the service of the British and foreign Bible society, and was sent to Russia. Here he edited the New Testament in the Mantchoo language, and published a book which he called "The Targum," containing metrical translations from 30 languages. He then went to Spain, where he mingled with the gypsies, translated the Gospel of Luke into their language, edited a translation of the New Testament into Spanish, and was thrown into prison for circulating the Bible. Having returned to England, he published in 1841 " The Zincali: an Account of the Gypsies in Spain," with a collection of their songs and a vocabulary of their language. In 1843 he published " The Bible in Spain," a narrative of his personal adventures.

He afterward travelled for some time in Turkey and Wallachia. In 1851 he published "Lavengro: the Scholar, the Gypsy, and the Priest," a work autobiographical in form, but apparently containing much fiction. In 1857 he published " The Romany Rye," a sequel to "Lavengro;" and in 1862 "Wild Wales." Pie has also contributed much, both in prose and verse, to various periodicals.