Tales of the Alhambra - Tapa blanda

This book, implemental in reintroducing the Alhambra to the Western world, was published initially in the beginning of the 19th century. It consists of a series of essays and short fiction pieces. Years later, in 1851, Irving wrote an "Author's Revised Edition", also entitled Tales of the Alhambra, which is this revised version.

WASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859) was born in New York and studied law; on account of his poor health he went to Europe in 1804. He visited Rome, Paris, the Netherlands and London, and in 1806 returned to New York where he was admitted to the bar. His first writing was in Salmagundi (1807), a semi-monthly sheet in imitation of the Spectator which ran for twenty numbers. His first work, A History of New York, by Diedrich Knickerbocker (1809), was a good-natured burlesque upon the old Dutch settlers of Manhattan Island.