COMUNICACIÓN Y PRENSA

Reading is another way of travelling which is why this month we are recommending a series of travel books by the British writer Thomas Roscoe (1791-1871) published under the general title of The Tourist in Spain. The library of the Council of the Alhambra Generalife has various books from this series focusing on Granada (1835), Andalusia (1836), Biscay and the Castiles (1837) and finally his account of his travels in Spain and Morocco (1838).
These books were published by the Robert Jennings publishing house in its Landscape Annual series which also included volumes on France, Italy and Switzerland.
The aim of these books was to show potential travellers what they might see in the various places described, while offering brief histories of the place and its people in a mixture of history and first-hand personal description.
All of these books are illustrated by David Roberts (1796-1864), a British painter and lithographer who made illustrations of picturesque views and buildings in the different places he visited. He visited Spain from December 1832 to September 1833 and after returning to England completed his illustrations on the basis of the sketches he had made in situ. These images provide visual data of enormous interest for a better knowledge of our landscape and architectural heritage, which in many cases has been substantially altered or has disappeared.

The pictures used to illustrate this item are excellent examples.