Reading a very obscure book about the early 19C writer George Borrow (THE

BIBLE IN SPAIN etc.), I came across the following footnote:

“Even the American J.F. Neal had much in common with Borrow. He spent the

early 1820s in London; was, like him, a boxing enthusiast, having taken

lessons from Richmond the Black; like Borrow, too, was a journalist in those

years and had an enthusiasm for language learning.”

Is this the John Neal (1793-1876) listed in the OXFORD COMPANION TO AMERICAN

LITERATURE, author of BROTHER JONATHAN? If so, what’s that middle initial

doing in my book? The OCAL just gives “Neal, John.”

Were there two John Neals? Or only one? Anybody know?