HUBER, Victor Aimé (and James Robertson CRAUFURD, translator).
Stories of Spanish life, from the German of Huber. Edited by Lieut.-Col. Craufurd of the Grenadier Guards.
London, Henry Colburn, 1837.
2 vols, 8vo, pp. I: viii, 264 (pp. 257–264 typeset music), [4 (advertisements)], II: iv, 339, [1 (blank)], [2 (advertisements)]; some occasional light soiling or spotting, but a very good copy, untrimmed in the original grey boards; rubbed, neatly rebacked preserving original printed spine labels.
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Stories of Spanish life, from the German of Huber. Edited by Lieut.-Col. Craufurd of the Grenadier Guards.
First edition in English; rare. In his Hand-book, Richard Ford described it as ‘one of the best sketches of this original people and country’. The German original, Skizzen aus Spanien, had appeared in 1828.
‘Selections from Huber’s Skizzen aus Spanien, appeared in the Athenaeum in the winter of 1835, and were remarked by some persons well acquainted with the Peninsula, as affording, even in the imperfect form of extracts, so lively and faithful a picture of the manners and customs of the people, that they were anxious to possess an English version of the entire work. The translator’s attention was in this way invited to the perusal of Huber’s work, and, completely satisfied of the accuracy of the delineations of life in Spain, from their perfect agreement with the impressions and recollections which two visits to that country have left on his own mind, he was induced to undertake the task of giving it to the English public. Huber was, undoubtedly, thoroughly acquainted with Spain, particularly with the south. He has observed, with great accuracy the interesting localities of the country, and must have associated familiarly with the different classes, to have described their character, feelings, and manners, with so much spirit and fidelity’ (preface, pp. vii–viii).
Huber (1800–1869) was also the author of Madrid, Lisboa, und die Refugiados in London (Bremen, 1833).
The translator James Robertson Craufurd (1804–1888) was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards and saw service during the Crimean War. He was promoted to lieutenant general in 1863 and to general in 1871.
Provenance: Christ’s College Cambridge, with armorial blindstamp to titles and withdrawal stamp on front free endpapers.
Library Hub (Copac) records four copies only: Bodleian, BL, CUL, and NLS. OCLC adds Biblioteca Nacional, Brown, Chicago, Halle, Illinois, and Library of Congress.
Alberich 575; Palau 116544. See Robertson, Los curiosos impertinentes (1992), pp. 186-187.
