Irving, Washington / 2008-05-19 00:00:00
1832
THE ALHAMBRA
by Washington Irving
PREFACE
Preface to the Revised Edition.
Rough draughts of some of the following tales and essays were
actually written during a residence in the Alhambra; others were
subsequently added, founded on notes and observations made there. Care
was taken to maintain local coloring and verisimilitude; so that the
whole might present a faithful and living picture of that microcosm,
that singular little world into which I had been fortuitously
thrown; and about which the external world had a very imperfect
idea. It was my endeavor scrupulously to depict its half Spanish, half
Oriental character; its mixture of the heroic, the poetic, and the
grotesque; to revive the traces of grace and beauty fast fading from
its walls; to record the regal and chivalrous traditions concerning
those who once trod its courts; and the whimsical and superstitious
legends of the motley race now burrowing among its ruins.
The papers thus roughly sketched out lay for three or four years
in my portfolio, until I found myself in London, in 1832, on the eve
of returning to the United States. I then endeavored to arrange them
for the press, but the preparations for departure did not allow
sufficient leisure. Several were thrown aside as incomplete; the
rest were put together somewhat hastily and in rather a crude and
chaotic manner.
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