"I think I shall venture on sending your book to the press," {55a}
referring to it as a "book" four times in nine lines. Again, in
another place, Borrow describes how he rescued himself "from
peculiarly miserable circumstances by writing a book, an original
book, within a week, even as Johnson is said to have written his
Rasselas and Beckford his Vathek." {55b} This removes all question
of the Life and Adventures of Joseph Sell being included in a
collection of short stories. The title would not be the same, the
date is most probably wrongly given, as in the case of Marshland
Shales; but the general accuracy of the account as written seems to
be highly probable. Many efforts have been made to trace the story;
but so far unsuccessfully. It must be remembered that Borrow loved
to stretch the long arm of coincidence; but he loved more than
anything else a dramatic situation. He was always on the look out
for effective "curtains."

In favour of the story having been actually written, is the knowledge
that Borrow invented little or nothing. Collateral evidence has
shown how little he deviated from actual happenings, although he did
not hesitate to revise dates or colour events. The strongest
evidence, however, lies in the atmosphere of truth that pervades
Chapters LV.-LVII. of Lavengro. They are convincing. At one time or
another during his career, it would appear that Borrow wrote against
time from grim necessity; otherwise he must have been a master of
invention, which everything that is known about him clearly shows
that he was not.

Joseph Sell has disappeared, a most careful search of the Registers
at Stationers' Hall can show no trace of that work, or any book that
seems to suggest it, and the contemporary literary papers render no