Secrets and Glory: Baron Taylor and His Voyage Pittoresque en Espagne

Argumento de Secrets and Glory: Baron Taylor and His Voyage Pittoresque en Espagne

This is the first full critical study of Voyage pittoresque en Espagne by Baron Taylor (1789-1879), a key work in the nineteenth-century travel literature which established Spain as a new and exotic tourist destination in Europe. Both the long gestation of the book and the multiple facets of its author's career have always been wrapped in mysteries, which Alisa Luxenberg now brilliantly resolves, discovering unknown aspects of Taylor's life â€"his Masonic membership, his literary pseudonyms, the family he maintained in secret for a long timeâ€" which are decisive in explaining his complex personal life and his ambitious publishing ventures. Relying on copious archival sources, which are placed in a solid social and political context, this research reveals the close links between Taylor's travels in the Iberian Peninsula, the Voyage pittoresque en Espagne and the group of paintings that King Louis Philippe exhibited in the Spanish Gallery at the Louvre between 1838 and 1848. Luxenberg also questions whether there was a single authorship of the Voyage pittoresque, analysing its engravings in parallel with the unpublished series of drawings which served as their basis. All this enables us to understand better the way in which the great work was conceived and executed, and also the audience at which it was aimed and the impact it had on the arts and letters of its period.

He aquí el primer estudio crítico completo del Voyage pittoresque en Espagne del Baron Taylor (1789-1879), obra fundamental de la literatura decimonónica de viajes que consagró a España como nuevo y exótico destino turístico en Europa. Tanto la larga gestación de este libro como las múltiples facetas de la carrera de su autor han estado siempre envueltas en interrogantes que Luxenberg resuelve ahora con brillantez descubriendo aspectos desconocidos de la biografía de Taylor —su adhesión a la masonería, sus pseudónimos literarios, la familia que durante largo tiempo mantuvo en secreto— determinantes para explicar su compleja trayectoria personal y sus ambiciosas empresas editoriales. Gracias a abundantes fuentes de archivo que se presentan en un sólido contexto sociopolítico, esta investigación revela estrechos vínculos entre los viajes de Taylor a la Península Ibérica, el Voyage pittoresque en Espagne y el conjunto de pinturas que el rey Luis Felipe expuso en la Galería Española del Louvre entre 1838 y 1848. Asimismo, Luxenberg pone en duda la autoría única del Voyage pittoresque analizando sus grabados en paralelo con la inédita serie de dibujos que les sirvieron de base. Todo ello nos permite entender mejor el modo en que fue concebida y llevada a cabo aquella magna obra, así como el público al que se dirigía y el impacto que tuvo en las artes y las letras de su época.0Table of Contents

9 Acknowledgements
13 Embarkation: On the Trail of Taylor’s Voyage pittoresque en Espagne
21 Wanderlust: Desire and Ideology in Travel Imagery
47 Destination: The Object and its Problems
77 Climate: Tours of Spain and Tours of Duty
113 Traveler: From the Military to Freemasonry
161 View: The Image of Spain in Voyage pittoresque en Espagne
195 Itinerary: Conception, Process, and Production
241 Review: Audience and Critical Reception
277 Souvenir: Final Thoughts
279 Appendix 1
283 Appendix 2
287 Bibliography Cited
309 Index
321 Photographic Credits