emphasised that this particular argument holds considerable
significance.

The strongest evidence against Joseph Sell having been written in
1825, however, lies in the fact that Greenwich Fair was held on 23rd
May, and not 12th May, as given by Dr Knapp. By his error Dr Knapp
makes Borrow leave London a day before the Fair took place that he
describes. Borrow must have left London on the day following
Greenwich Fair (24th May). If he left later, then those things which
tend to confirm his story of the life in the Dingle do not fit in, as
will be seen. He certainly could not have left before Greenwich Fair
was held.

In one of his brother John's letters, written at the end of 1829,
there is a significant passage, "Let me know how you sold your
manuscript." {58a} What manuscript is it that is referred to? There
is no record of George having sold a manuscript in the autumn of
1829. The passage can scarcely have reference to some article or
translation; it seems to suggest something of importance, an event in
George's life that his brother is anxious to know more about. If
this be Joseph Sell, then it explains where Borrow got the money from
to go up to London at the end of 1829, when he entered into relations
with Dr Bowring. It is merely a theory, it must be confessed; but
there is certain evidence that seems to support it. In the first
place, Borrow was a chronicler before all else. He possessed an
amazing memory and a great gift for turning his experiences into
literary material. If he coloured facts, he appears to have done so
unconsciously, to judge from those portions of The Bible in Spain
that were covered by letters to the Bible Society. Not only are the
facts the same, but, with very slight changes, the words in which he