Granada
Washington Irving arrived in Granada in 1829, moved into rooms in the Alhambra, and wrote a book that made the palace famous to English readers. George Borrow passed through Spain a few years later on a very different errand, distributing bibles, and wrote about the country with a sharp eye for roads, inns and officials.
The regional library holds Andalusian imprints and local collections, including material on the Moorish period that Irving used and embellished. Read both books with the knowledge that neither author was neutral: Irving wanted a romance, and Borrow wanted a conversion.
A library to check
- Andalusian public library catalogue — catalogues and digital collections, open to readers online
Books connected to Granada
- The Alhambra — Washington Irving, 1832. A romantic sketchbook that created the Alhambra as an image in the English-speaking world.
- The Bible in Spain — George Borrow, 1843. A swaggering, unreliable travel classic about selling books in a country that did not want them.
A note on accuracy
We describe literary connections and public collections, not street addresses, opening hours or ticket prices. Those change and we cannot verify them for every reader. Follow the institution's own site for current visiting information.