Alimited edition of the "Legends of the Conquest of Spain," with which this volume commences, was published in 1835. These Legends, consisting of the "Legend of Don Roderick," the "Legend of the Subjugation of Spain," the "Legend of Count Julian and his Family," formed No. III. of the "Crayon Miscellany." For the Chronicles which follow them, with the exception of "Abderahman" and "Spanish Romance," which have appeared in the "Knickerbocker Magazine," I have drawn upon the unpublished manuscripts of Mr. Irving, bequeathed to me by his will. This portion of the volume is illustrative of the wars between the Spaniards and the Moors, and consists of the "Legend of Pelayo," the "Chronicle of Count Fernan Gonzalez," the most illustrious hero of his epoch, who united the kingdoms of Leon and Castile; and the "Chronicle of Fernando the Saint," that renowned champion of the faith, under whom the greater part of Spain was rescued from the Moors. I have selected these themes from a mass of unpublished manuscript that came into my hands at [Pg vi] the death of Mr. Irving, because they bore the impress of being most nearly, though not fully, prepared for the press, and because they had for him a special fascination, arising in part, perhaps, from his long residence in that romantic country. "These old Morisco-Spanish subjects"—is the language of one of his published letters—"have a charm that makes me content to write about them at half price. They have so much that is high-minded, and chivalrous, and quaint, and picturesque, and at times half comic, about them."
