) as it has been inappropriately styled, is told in
the dedication to David Wilkie, Esq., R.A. Mr. Irving and the great
artist just named were fellow travellers on the continent a few years
since. In their rambles about some of the old cities of Spain, they
were more than once struck with scenes and incidents which reminded
them of passages in the "Arabian Nights." The painter urged Mr.
Irving to write something that should illustrate those peculiarities,
"something in the Haroun Alrasched style" that should have a dash of
that Arabian spice which pervades every thing in Spain. The author set
to work, _con amore,_ and has produced two goodly volumes, with a
few "Arabesque" sketches and tales founded on popular traditions. His
_study_ was THE ALHAMBRA, which must have inspired him for his task.
To quote his own words: "how many legends and traditions, true and
fabulous; how many songs and romances, Spanish and Arabian, of love
and war, and chivalry, are associated with this romantic pile." The
Governor of the Alhambra gave Mr. Irving and his companion, permission
to occupy his vacant apartments in the Moorish Palace. "My companion,"
says the author, "was soon summoned away by the duties of his station;
but I remained for several months, spellbound in the old enchanted
pile."

Such is the plan or frame of the work before us. It has induced us to
select the Embellishments on the annexed page; and their description,
from so graceful a pencil as that of the author, will, we hope,
bespeak the favour of the reader.

"The Alhambra is an ancient fortress or castellated palace of the
Moorish kings of Granada, where they held dominion over this their
boasted terrestrial paradise, and made their last stand for empire in
Spain. The palace occupies but a portion of the fortress, the walls of
which, studded with towers, stretch irregularly round the whole crest
of a lofty hill that overlooks the city, and forms a spur of the
Sierra Nevada, or snowy mountain.

"In the time of the Moors, the fortress was capable of containing
an army of forty thousand men within its precincts, and served
occasionally as a stronghold of the sovereigns against their
rebellious subjects. After the kingdom had passed into the hands
of the Christians, the Alhambra continued a royal demesne, and was
occasionally inhabited by the Castilian monarchs. The Emperor Charles
V. began a sumptuous palace within its walls, but was deterred from
completing it by rep