Tales of the Alhambra
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| Tales of the Alhambra | |
| Author | Washington Irving |
|---|---|
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Publication date | 1832 (revised 1851) |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-8424105044 |
Tales of the Alhambra is a collection of essays, verbal sketches, and stories by Washington Irving.
Irving lived in Spain between 1826 and 1829, collecting information in the Spanish archives for several books. Part of this time was spent in the historic Alhambra Palace at Granada, Spain, where at least some of the material was written.
It was completed after Irving left Spain in 1829 to accept a position in the US Embassy in London. Tales of the Alhambra was published concurrently in England and the United States. (The actual title is more lengthy, as its contents amounted to a collection of sketches.)
In 1851 he wrote an "Author's Revised Edition", also entitled Tales of the Alhambra.
The book was instrumental in reintroducing the Alhambra to Western audiences.
Alexander Pushkin's 1834 poem Tale of the Golden Cockerel is based on two chapters of Tales of the Alhambra. In turn, the Pushkin poem inspired Vladimir Belsky's libretto for the opera "The Golden Cockerel" by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov.
