[SOLO] Lavengro: The Scholar, The Gypsy, The Priest, by George Borrow-ans

[TheBanjo]

It's the story about them bringing his body back in a barrel of rum that I found interesting . I'm trying to remember what I was listening to that added to my knowledge store.
added - I wasn't quite correct about the barrel https://librivox.org/the-death-of-lord-nelson-by-william-beatty-md/

Anne

Rum? Nothing so low. Brandy, I think! Nelson was an immensely famous man even before his death, not least because of his scandalous romantic arrangements, and the manner of his dying, right on the cusp of his greatest ever naval victory, only increased his glory. There is that famous "kiss me, Hardy", too. How wonderful that the surgeon's eyewitness account of that battle should be available on Librivox.

[Sunrise2020]

Spot PL and PL of section 13 are fine. I need to catch up on all the extra information you send my way.

[TheBanjo]

I have uploaded section 17: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_017_borrow_128kb.mp3 (15:19) ...

... in which we finally learn what "Lavengro" means.

[Sunrise2020]

PL. of section 14 is okay.

[Sunrise2020]

Section 15 is okay.

Please check Section 16 at about minute 1:50. There’s clapping which is probably not part of the novel.

[Sunrise2020]

PL of section 17 is okay.

[TheBanjo]

Please check Section 16 at about minute 1:50. There’s clapping which is probably not part of the novel.

Sure is. Not good editing on my part! Hopefully fixed now.

I have uploaded:
Section 16: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_016_borrow_128kb.mp3 (hopefully fixed - now 11:49)
Section 18: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_018_borrow_128kb.mp3 (9:07)
Section 19: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_018_borrow_128kb.mp3 (16:43)
Section 20: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_018_borrow_128kb.mp3 (8:30)

The Italian phrase at the end of Chapter 18 appears to be almost a direct quotation from Dante, and means "groans, sighs and loud woes".

[Sunrise2020]

Spot check of section 16 and PL of sections 18-20 is fine.

[annise]

Guess what turns up if you do an image search for Lavengro ? An Irish boy band

[Sunrise2020]

Have you watched the video?

[TheBanjo]

I have uploaded:
Section 021: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_021_borrow_128kb.mp3 (12:52)
Section 022: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_022_borrow_128kb.mp3 (16:42)

SOME NOTES ON CHAPTER 21

For a little more information on the East Anglian painter for whom Borrow expresses such admiration in Chapter 21, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Crome.

I have never before heard of the Battle of Minden, but Borrow refers to it several times in this work.

According to Wikipedia "The Battle of Minden was a major engagement during the Seven Years' War, fought on 1 August 1759. An Anglo-German army under the overall command of Prussian Field Marshal Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated a French army commanded by Marshal of France, Marquis de Contades.... The decisive action of the battle came when six regiments of British and two of Hanoverian infantry, in line formation, repelled repeated French cavalry attacks, contrary to all fears that the regiments would be broken...In Britain the result at Minden was widely celebrated and was seen as part of Britain's Annus Mirabilis of 1759 also known as the 'Year of Victories'."

SOME NOTES ON CHAPTER 22

"(A)n antinomian is one who takes the principle of salvation by faith and divine grace to the point of asserting that the saved are not bound to follow the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments." (Wikipedia).

The followers of Ludowick Muggleton sound interesting. Again, from Wikipedia:

"The Muggletonians, named after Lodowicke Muggleton, were a small Protestant Christian movement which began in 1651 when two London tailors announced they were the last prophets foretold in the biblical Book of Revelation. The group grew out of the Ranters and in opposition to the Quakers. Muggletonian beliefs include a hostility to philosophical reason, a scriptural understanding of how the universe works and a belief that God appeared directly on Earth as Jesus Christ. A consequential belief is that God takes no notice of everyday events on Earth and will not generally intervene until it is meant to bring the world to an end.

Muggletonians avoided all forms of worship or preaching, and met only for discussion and socializing. The movement was egalitarian, apolitical and pacifist, and resolutely avoided evangelism. Members attained a degree of public notoriety by cursing those who reviled their faith."

The book the narrator receives as a gift appears to be a copy of Anders Vedel's "Hundredvisebogen" (1591)... a hundred Danish ballads which became a solid foundation of later knowledge of the older Danish literary tradition. It was published with the support of Queen Sophie ... Vedel's one hundred songs were republished by Peder Syv in 1695, as half of his collection of 200 folksongs...In the Faroe Islands, texts from "Hundredvisebogen" have been in use among folk singers right up until today." (Wikipedia)

[TheBanjo]

Guess what turns up if you do an image search for Lavengro ? An Irish boy band

Ha!
No, I had no idea.
Could be worse. Given that "lavare" in Latin is "to wash" (from which we get "lavatory", amongst other words), "Lavengro" could just as easily have turned out to be a brand of washing powder.
It's going to be a bit of a challenge coming up with a cover for this one, based on what I've read so far. But boy band? Nah, probably not...

[annise]

There seem to be many "groups" who have names taken from classic book titles but I was surprised about this one. I have found a PD det of book illustrations on Wikipedia like this one https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Illus_by_Claude_Shepperson_for_Lavengro_by_George_Borrow_%281899_reissue%29-No.6.jpg
So that is a help,
Anne

[TheBanjo]

I have uploaded section 023: https://librivox.org/uploads/annise/lavengro_023_borrow_128kb.mp3 (18:42)

As I imagine Sunrise2020 already knows perfectly well, the 'Werther' referred to here was the eponymous hero of Goethe's famous novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther", which became a smash hit in late eighteenth century Europe. The novel's hero ends by committing suicide. Edward Gibbon was the English author of the six volume "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" (and no, even I am not proposing to read THAT for Librivox...)

[TheBanjo]

There seem to be many "groups" who have names taken from classic book titles but I was surprised about this one. I have found a PD set of book illustrations on Wikipedia like this one https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Illus_by_Claude_Shepperson_for_Lavengro_by_George_Borrow_%281899_reissue%29-No.6.jpg
So that is a help,
Anne

Nice find!

I so loved it as a child — and in truth, even after that — when classic books I was reading turned out to have etched illustrations. And what would Winnie The Pooh be without E.H. Shepherd's sketches, or Alice in Wonderland without Teniel's?