The Alhambra: being a brief record of the Arabian conquest of the Peninsula with a particular account of the Mohammedan architecture and decorationCalvert, Albert Frederick
Islamic
The Alhambra: being a brief record of the Arabian conquest of the Peninsula with a particular account of the Mohammedan architecture and decoration
“_Qui multum peregrinatur, raro sanctificatur_ runs the old monkish saw;
but we find its living contradiction in Mr. CALVERT. This modern Jason
set out to Western Australia in quest of gold. Adventuring into deserts,
he found what he sought and returned home content, only to set forth
again on further pilgrimages; which, if the evidence of our eyes is to
be trusted, have resulted in the discovery of still more gold. Verily
there is a profusion of it in this book; but its liberal use has paid
the fee of sanctification. We cheerfully admit Mr. CALVERT into the
ranks of those whom posterity will applaud for delightful yet
unprofitable work.”--_Outlook._
“This valuable and profusely-illustrated volume is designed to be the
companion and complementary volume to the same author’s work on the
Alhambra.... Mr. CALVERT’S frequent and protracted visits to Spain
caused him to realise that the Moors were not a one-city nation, and
that there were splendid remains of earlier Mohammedan architecture and
decoration in Cordova, Seville, and Toledo. Moorish work of these three
cities forms the theme of the present volume, in which, as in the book
on the Alhambra, the letterpress is made subservient to the
illustrations. The supply of pictures is at once lavish and
excellent.... The colouring and the elaboration of the designs of
various schemes of Moorish ornamentation, apart from general
architectural effects, are often marvellous, and almost bewildering,
both in the boldness of their conception and in the intricacy of their
pattern.”--_Guardian._
“Mr. CALVERT has produced a beautiful book.... 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._
“This is one of the books to which a simply literary review cannot
pretend to do justice. Mr. CALVERT gives a brief record of the Moorish
conquest of Spain, but the main purpose of his book is to bring before
the English reader the art, architectural and decorative, of the
people.... In this volume he deals with and presents, with great wealth
of illustration, the relics of their achievement in Cordova, Seville,
and Toledo.... The book seems worthy of the subject, and we would gladly
give a more effective description of its many beauties.”--_Spectator._
“As a production it is, without doubt, one of the most beautiful we have
seen, the illustrations and colour printing, being exquisite. The author
evidently knows his subject well, as the description in detail of
Cordova, Seville, and Toledo range far and above any other publication.
It is certainly one of the most interesting books of the
year.”--_Crown._
“A truly sumptuous volume.”--_Speaker._
“This sumptuous volume.”--_Westminster Gazette._
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