Goya, an account of his life and works
Part 15
In Leon, once the capital of the second kingdom in Spain; in Burgos, which boasts one of the most magnificent cathedrals in Spain, and the custodianship of the bones of the Cid; and in Salamanca, with its university, which is one of the oldest in Europe, the author has selected three of the most interesting relics of ancient grandeur in this country of departed greatness.
Leon to-day is nothing but a large agricultural village, torpid, silent, dilapidated; Burgos, which still retains traces of the Gotho-Castilian character, is a gloomy and depleting capital; and Salamanca is a city of magnificent buildings, a broken hulk, spent by the storms that from time to time have devastated her.
Yet apart from the historical interest possessed by these cities, 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.
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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.
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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.
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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._