Introduction Preface To The Revised Edition |
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IntroductionPreface To The Revised Edition
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.
In the present edition I have revised and re-arranged the whole work,
enlarged some parts, and added others, including the papers originally
omitted; and have thus endeavored to render it more complete and more worthy
of the indulgent reception with which it has been favored.
W.I.
Sunnyside, 1851.
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