they still make an irresistible appeal to the artist and the
antiquary. They are content with their stories of old-time
greatness and their cathedrals, and these ancient architectural
splendours, undisturbed by the touch of a modernising and
renovating spirit, continue to attract the visitor.
* * * * *
_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_
MADRID
A HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE SPANISH CAPITAL, WITH 450
ILLUSTRATIONS
Madrid is at once one of the most interesting and most maligned
cities in Europe. It stands at an elevation of 2,500 feet above the
sea leve, in the centre of an arid, treeless, waterless, and
wind-blown plain; but whatever may be thought of the wisdom of
selecting a capital in such a situation, one cannot but admire the
uniqueness of its position, and the magnificence of its buildings,
and one is forced to admit that, having fairly entered the path of
progress, Madrid bids fair to become one of the handsomest and most
prosperous of European cities.
The splendid promenades, the handsome buildings, and the spacious
theatres combine to make Madrid one of the first cities of the
world, and the author has endeavoured with the aid of the camera,
to place every feature and aspect of the Spanish metropolis before
the reader. Some of the illustrations reproduced here have been
made familiar to the English public by reason of the interesting
and stirring events connected with the Spanish Royal Marriage, but
the greater number were either taken by the author, or are the work
of photographers specially employed to obtain new views for the
purpose of this volume.
* * * * *
_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_
GOYA
A BIOGRAPHY AND APPRECIATION. ILLUSTRATED BY REPRODUCTIONS OF 600 OF HIS
PICTURES
The last of the old masters and the first of the moderns, as he has
been called, Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes is not so
familiarised to English readers as his genius deserves. He was born
at a time when the tradition of Velazquez was fading, and the
condition of Spanish painting was debased almost beyond hope of
salvation; he broke through the academic tradition of imitation;
“he, next to Velazquez, is to be accounted as the man whom the
Impressionists of our time have to thank for their most definite
stimulus, their most immediate inspiration.”
The genius of Goya was a robust, imperious, and fulminating genius;
his iron temperament was passionate, dramatic, and revolutionary;
he painted a picture as he would have fought a battle. He was an
athletic, warlike, and indefatigable painter; a naturalist like
Velazquez; fantastic like Hogarth; eccentric like Rembrandt; the
last flame-coloured flash of Spanish genius.
It is impossible to reproduce his colouring; but in the
reproductions of his works the author has endeavoured to convey to
the reader some idea of Goya’s boldness of style, his mastery of
frightful shadows and mysterious lights, and his genius for
expressing all terrible emotions.
* * * * *
_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_
CORDOVA
A HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF THE ANCIENT CITY WHICH THE
CARTHAGINIANS STYLED THE “GEM OF THE SOUTH,” WITH 160 ILLUSTRATIONS
Gay-looking, vivacious in its beauty, silent, ill-provided,
depopulated, Cordova was once the pearl of the West, the city of
cities, Cordova of the thirty suburbs and three thousand mosques;
to-day she is no more than an overgrown village, but she still
remains the most Oriental town in Spain.
Cordova, once the centre of European civilisation, under the Moors
the Athens of the West, the successful rival of Baghdad and
Damascus, the seat of learning and the repository of the arts, has
shrunk to the proportions of a third-rate provincial town; but the
artist, the antiquary and the lover of the beautiful, will still
find in its streets and squares and patios a mysterious spell that
cannot be resisted.
BY ALBERT F. CALVERT
LIFE OF CERVANTES
A NEW LIFE OF THE GREAT SPANISH AUTHOR TO COMMEMORATE THE TERCENTENARY
OF THE PUBLICATION OF “DON QUIXOTE,” WITH NUMEROUS PORTRAITS AND
REPRODUCTIONS FROM EARLY EDITIONS OF “DON QUIXOTE”
Size Crown 8vo. 150 pp. Price 3/6 net
PRESS NOTICES
“A popular and accessible account of the career of
Cervantes.”--_Daily Chronicle._
“A very readable and pleasant account of one of the great writers
of all time.”--_Morning Leader._
“Mr. CALVERT is entitled to the gratitude of book-lovers for his
industrious devotion at one of our greatest literary
shrines.”--_Birmingham Post._
“It is made trebly interesting by the very complete set of
Cervantes’ portraits it contains, and by the inclusion of a
valuable bibliography.”--_Black and White._
“We recommend the book to all those to whom Cervantes is more than
a mere name.”--_Westminster Gazette._
“A most interesting résumé of all facts up to the present time
known.”--_El Nervion de Bilbao, Spain._
“The most notable work dedicated to the immortal author of _Don
Quixote_ that has been published in England.”--_El Graduador,
Spain._
“Although the book is written in English no Spaniard could have
written it with more conscientiousness and enthusiasm.”--_El
Defensor de Granada, Spain._
BY ALBERT F. CALVERT
THE ALHAMBRA
OF GRANADA, BEING A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MOSLEM RULE IN SPAIN FROM THE
REIGN OF MOHAMMED THE FIRST TO THE FINAL EXPULSION OF THE MOORS,
TOGETHER WITH A PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF THE CONSTRUCTION, THE ARCHITECTURE
AND THE DECORATION OF THE MOORISH PALACE, WITH 80 COLOURED PLATES AND
NEARLY 300 BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS (NEW EDITION). DEDICATED BY
PERMISSION TO H.M. KING ALFONSO XIII.
Size 10 x 7-1/2. Price £2 2s. net
PRESS NOTICES
“It is hardly too much to say that this is one of the most
magnificent books ever issued from the English Press.”--_Building
World._
“One is really puzzled where to begin and when to stop in praising
the illustrations.”--_Bookseller._
“The most complete record of this wonder of architecture which has
ever been contemplated, much less attempted.”--_British Architect._
“A treasure to the student of decorative art.”--_Morning
Advertiser._
“Mr. CALVERT has given us a Book Beautiful.”--_Western Daily
Press._
“It is the last word on the subject, no praise is too
high.”--_Nottingham Express._
“May be counted among the more important art books which have been
published during recent years.”--_The Globe._
“Has a pride of place that is all its own among the books of the
month.”--_Review of Reviews._
“Has in many respects surpassed any books on the Alhambra which up
to the present have appeared in our own country or abroad.”--_El
Graduador, Spain._
“It is one of the most beautiful books of modern times.”--_Ely
Gazette._
“One of the most artistic productions of the year.”--_Publishers’
Circular._
“The most beautiful book on the Alhambra issued in
England.”--_Sphere._
“The standard work on a splendid subject.”--_Daily Telegraph._
“A remarkable masterpiece of book production.”--_Eastern Daily
Press._
“A perfect treasure of beauty and delight.”--_Keighley News._
“A magnificent work.”--_Melbourne Age, Australia._
“Immense collection of fine plates.”--_The Times._
“A standard work, the compilation of which would credit a life’s
labour.”--_Hull Daily Mail._
BY ALBERT F. CALVERT
MOORISH REMAINS IN SPAIN
BEING A BRIEF RECORD OF THE ARABIAN CONQUEST AND OCCUPATION OF THE
PENINSULA, WITH A PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF THE MOHAMMEDAN ARCHITECTURE AND
DECORATION IN THE CITIES OF CORDOVA, SEVILLE AND TOLEDO, WITH MANY
COLOURED PLATES, AND OVER 400 BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS, DIAGRAMS,
ETC., DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO H.M. KING ALFONSO XIII.
Crown 4to. (7-1/2 x 10 ins.) Price £2 2s. net
PRESS NOTICES
“The making of this book must surely have been a veritable labour
of love; and love’s labour has certainly not been lost.”--_Pall
Mall Gazette._
“The best age of Moorish architecture in Spain is shown with
remarkable vividness and vitality.”--_The Scotsman._
“A most gorgeous book.... We cheerfully admit Mr. CALVERT into the
ranks of those whom posterity will applaud for delightful yet
unprofitable work.”--_Outlook._
“A large and sumptuous volume.”--_Tribune._
“The illustrations are simply marvels of reproduction.”--_Dundee
Advertiser._
“One of the books to which a simple literary review cannot pretend
to do justice.”--_Spectator._
“A special feature of a work of peculiar interest and value are the
illustrations.”--_Newcastle Chronicle._
“The illustrations are given with a minuteness and faithfulness of
detail, and colour, which will be particularly appreciated and
acknowledged by those who are most acquainted with the subject
themselves.”--_Liverpool Post._
“It is impossible to praise too highly the care with which the
illustrations have been prepared.”--_Birmingham Daily Post._
“It is illustrated with so lavish a richness of colour that to turn
its pages gives one at first almost the same impression of
splendour as one receives in wandering from hall to hall of the
Alcazar of Seville; and this is probably the highest compliment we
could pay to the book or its author.”--_Academy._
“It is certainly one of the most interesting books of the
year.”--_Crown._
“The occasional delicacy of design and harmony of colour can
scarcely be surpassed ... a valuable and profusely illustrated
volume.”--_Guardian._
“An excellent piece of work.”--_The Times._
“Mr. CALVERT has performed a useful work.”--_Daily Telegraph._
“A truly sumptuous volume.”--_The Speaker._
“Mr. CALVERT has given a very complete account of the evolution of
Moresco art.”--_The Connoisseur._