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Gypsy, Roma, Traveller
Complete Early Books Online

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There are several web sites that give the complete text of books written in the 19th and early 20th century on Gypsy, Roma, Traveller life and culture

Below are links to two books that are a mixture of fiction and autobiography and one book that relates Gypsy folktales

Also available on the web are non-fiction books written in that early period. They show us how writers of the time understood Gypsy, Roma, Traveller language, history and culture and so on, but of course much of the content of these old books is now interpreted quite differently by modern scholars or viewed as inaccurate

  • At the Bibliomania web site you can read both a summary of, and the complete text of, the 1851 book 'Lavengro' by George Henry Borrow. 'Lavengro' is a 'fictionalised autobiography' recounting the adventures of a young man who roams about England with a variety of characters, including gypsies

  • At the Internet Archive web site you can choose between several editions of 'Lavengro' and also its 1857 sequel, 'The Romany Rye'. You can view them in a choice of formats, including 'Flip book' and PDF
  • The Internet Archive also includes George Borrow's books on Gypsy language, but modern scholars say that in those he mixed up the Romani dialects of several countries and even invented his own words! See the Romany Cymru - Romany Wales Project page about him
  • At the Internet Sacred Text Archive web site you can read the 1889 work Gypsy folk tales edited by Francis Hindes Groome
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