The Bible In Spain: Or, The Journeys, Adventures, And Imprisonments Of An Englishman, In An Attempt To Circulate The Scriptures In The Peninsula

First Edition. Three volumes. 8vo. pp xxiv, 370 + viii, 398 + viii, 391, (1) Rebound in dark blue morocco with highly ornate gilt decorated spines, single gilt fillet around outside of boards, tips of corners bumped. Half-titles and titlepages present throughout. Marbled endpapers and edges of text blocks. Former owner signatures to flyleaf in each vol. A lovely set. Borrow tells of his travels through Spain while working as a Bible salesman during the Carlist Civil War His activities encountered much opposition from the Roman Catholic Church and politicians. Borrow recalls in some detail the numerous personal encounters he had with Spaniards, from the prime minister to beggars, including Gypsies and crypto-Jews. This was the first widely read book with first-hand information on Gypsies, although a more complete description appears in his first work, 'The Zincalí', published two years before.