"QUEEN ISABELLA HAD EXPRESSED AN EARNEST DESIRE TO BEHOLD NEARER AT HAND A CITY WHOSE BEAUTY WAS SO SO RENOWNED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD": FIRST EDITION OF IRVING’S CONQUEST OF GRANADA, IN ORIGINAL BOARDS

IRVING, Washington. A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada. From the Mss. of Fray Antonio Agadipa. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Carey, 1829. Two volumes. Octavo, original half rose cloth and pale brown boards, original paper spine labels, uncut. Housed in custom half morocco clamshell box. $1400.

First edition of this fascinating historical novel set in Spain during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, in original boards.

From 1826 to 1829 Irving served as a diplomatic attaché in Spain, living for a time in Madrid, where he gathered material for his Christopher Columbus (1828). This was followed quickly by his historical novel Conquest of Granada, which helped to establish Irving as "an important 19th-century interpreter of Spanish legend and culture" (DAB). Printed simultaneously on large paper. Advertisements in Volume I. Contemporary book club notice in Volume I. Langfeld, 30. BAL 10125. Wright 1392. Rosenbach 1:215.

Light scattered foxing, as often, spines sunned to tan, faint discoloration to boards. A very attractive copy in original boards.