The Alhambra
1832
The Alhambra is a love letter to a vanished world. Washington Irving arrived at Granada's ancient Moorish palace in 1828, fresh from writing his biography of Columbus, and found something that rewired his imagination. The palace became a portal, through its intricate arches and cascading fountains, Irving glimpsed the dying embers of Islamic Spain, a civilization about to be swallowed by Christian conquest. Part travelogue, part fever dream, the book blends meticulous observation of Spanish scenery and local customs with legends whispered through empty courtyards: ghostly Moorish princes, hidden treasures, loves lost to history. Irving himself is the protagonist, a wide-eyed American wanderer granted rare access to the palace because of his growing fame. He fills his journals with descriptions he knows will never do the place justice, yet writes anyway. The result pulses with Romantic longing, for beauty, for meaning, for a world that no longer exists. This is the book that taught the world to see the Alhambra not just as a monument, but as a state of mind.
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“Perhaps there never was a monument more characteristic of an age and people than the Alhambra; a rugged fortress without, a voluptuous palace within; war frowning from its battlements; poetry breathing throughout the fairy architecture of its halls.””
— Washington Irving
“No hay nadie en el mundo que atienda mejor que la pobretería en España el arte de no hacer nada y de vivir de nada; el clima del país contribuye con la mitad , el temperamento de las gentes aporta la otra mitad. Dad, en efecto, a un español la sombra en verano, el sol en invierno, un trozo de pan, ajos, aceite, garbanzos, una vieja capa y una guitarra, aunque no sea propia, los sones de la guitarra, ¡y que ruede el mundo como quiera! Hablarle de estreches! Para él no hay desgracia; la soportan sus hombros sin encogerse, lo mismo que cuando cuelga de ellos la raída capa. El español es siempre un hidalgo, aun en hambre y en harapos.””
— Washington Irving
“In the present day, when popular literature is running into the low levels of life, and luxuriating on the vices and follies of mankind; and when the universal pursuit of gain is trampling down the early growth of poetic feeling, and wearing out the verdure of the soul, I question whether it would not be of service for the reader occasionally to turn to these records of prouder times and loftier modes of thinking; and to steep himself to the very lips in old Spanish romance.””
— Washington Irving
“My object is merely to give the reader a general introduction into an abode where, if so disposed, he may linger and loiter with me day by day until we gradually become familiar with all its localities.””
— Washington Irving
“Éste fue el teatro de su transitoria alegría y hermosura, y allí estaban las huellas de su elegancia y regocijo. ¿Que ha sido de ellos y dónde están? ¡Polvo y cenizas!... ¡Habitantes de las tumbas!... ¡Fantasmas del recuerdo!...””
— Washington Irving
“It could not be denied, however, that he set a high value upon justice, for he sold it at its weight in gold.””
— Washington Irving
“Such were our minor preparations for the journey, but above all we laid in an ample stock of good-humour, and a genuine disposition to be pleased; determining to travel in true contrabandista style; taking things as we found them, rough or smooth, and mingling with all classes and conditions in a kind of vagabond companionship. It is the true way to travel in Spain.””
— Washington Irving
“it is added, that some of them retain the ancient maps and deeds of the estates and gardens of their ancestors at Granada, and even the keys of the houses, holding them as evidences of their hereditary claims, to be produced at the anticipated day of restoration.””
— Washington Irving
“la ternura de su naturaleza estaba en efervescencia, y que sólo necesitaba un objeto.””
— Washington Irving
