The Zincali - An Account of the Gypsies of Spain is a book written by
George Borrow, the first edition was published 1841. A comprehensive
treatise on the different gypsy societies of the world, based on the
author's twenty years experience with gypsies in a variety of countries.
This fascinating and informative text offers the reader a unique and
interesting insight into a vast range of gypsy customs and traditions.
In his work George Borrow writes about the living and culture of the
Romani people predominantly in Spain. At the end of the book a useful
dictionary of the Romani language can be found.
The Zincali contains a lot of anecdotes of Borrow's encounters with the
people, which shows that he spoke the Romani language fluently and was
even considered as one of them. In contrast to most modern works about
the Romani people also the dark side of the Romani culture is discussed,
like fraud and robbery, which were apparently common with the Romani
people in the author's lifetime.
The chapters of this book include: 'The Gypsies - An Introduction'; 'The
Zigani, or Russian Gypsies'; 'The Hungarian Gypsies, or Czigany';
'Wallachia and Moldavia'; 'The English Gypsies'; 'Some Further
Particulars respecting the English Gypsies', etc.
Many antiquarian texts such as this are increasingly scarce and
expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this
volume now in an affordable, high-quality, modern edition. It comes
complete with a specially commissioned biography of the author.
