. The signatures are given in large
Arabic numerals, each pair of half-sheets dividing one number between
them; thus the first half-sheet is signed 1, the second 1*, the third 2,
the fourth 2*, &c. The Register is therefore 1 to 7 (thirteen
half-sheets, each 4 leaves), followed by a single unsigned leaf (pp.
105-106), the whole preceded by an unsigned half-sheet carrying the
Title-page, Preface, and Table of Contents. The book was issued without
any half-title.

Issued in plain paper wrappers of a bright green colour, lined with
white, and without either lettering or label. The leaves measure 8 11/16
x 5.5 inches.

Borrow was happy in the title he selected for his book. _Targum_, as Mr.
Gosse has pointed out, is a Chaldee word meaning an interpretation. The
word is said to be the root of 'dragoman.'

_Targum_ was written by Borrow during his two years' residence at St.
Petersburg (August, 1833, to August, 1835), and was published in June of
the latter year. One hundred copies only were printed. As might
naturally be expected the book has now become of very considerable
rarity, but a small proportion of the original hundred copies being
traceable to-day.

A reduced facsimile of the Title-page is given herewith.

"Just before completing this great work, the _Manchu New Testament_,
Mr. Borrow published a small volume in the English language, entitled
_Targum_, _or Metrical Translations from Thirty Languages and
Dialects_. The exquisite delicacy with which he has caught and
rendered the beauties of his well-chosen originals, is a proof of his
learning and genius. The work is a pearl in literature, and, like
pearls, it derives value from its scarcity, for the whole edition was
limited to about a hundred copies."--[_John P. Hasfeld_, _in The
Athenaeum_, _March_ 5_th_, 1836.]

"Some days ago I was at Kirtof's bookshop on the Gaternaya Ulitza. I
wanted to buy a _Bible in Spain_ to send to Simbirsk (on the Volga),
where they torment me for it every post-day. The stock was all sold
out in a few days after its arrival last autumn. The bookseller
asked me if I knew a book by Borrow called _Targum_, which was
understood to have been written by him and printed at St. Petersburg,
but he had never been able to light upon it; and the surprising thing
was that the trade abroad and even in England did him the honour to
order it. I consoled him by