Castilian Days: John Hay, Joseph Pennell and the Obfuscation of Politics by Art M. Elizabeth Boone John Hay began his involvement in the diplomatic relations of the United States and Spain during a time of political instability. In Madrid as Secretary at the United States Legation, Hay recorded his thoughts and observations about his host country in Castilian Days, a popular travel book published in 1871. This book helped Hay, an upcoming statesman, to present his political, religious and cultural views to the American public. Three decades later, Secretary of State Hay released a new version of Castilian Days, this time with images. Joseph Pennell’s illustrations, carefully composed and artfully drawn, soothed Hay’s chauvanistic tone and provided a major policy maker with a new voice for addressing the public. Castilian Days no longer read as an overt platform for imperialistic ambition; now it also appeared to be an apolitical work of art. Keywords: United States; Spain; Politics; Castilian Days; Hay, John Milton, 1838–1905; Pennell, Joseph, 1860–1926 John Hay began his involvement in the diplomatic relations of Spain and the United States in 1869, shortly after the toppling of Queen Isabel II and in the midst of Cuba’s first bid for independence. Spain was a country in political turmoil, with monarchists and republicans jockeying for control of a new government and soldiers fighting in the Caribbean to retain the last vestiges of the Spanish empire. As Secretary at the United States Legation in Madrid, Hay recorded his thoughts and observations about his host country in Castilian Days, an immensely popular travel book that went through multiple editions in the years following its initial publication in 1871. This book served Hay, author and diplomat, as an effective vehicle to present his political, religious and cultural views about Spain to the American public. Three decades after its initial publication, and five years after the 1898 Spanish- American War, Hay released a revised edition of Castilian Days. In this version from 1903, several key chapters were removed from the text, and for the first time the book Visual Resources gvi70088.3d 8/9/05 13:24:59 The Charlesworth Group, Wakefield +44(0)1924 369598 - Rev 7.51n/W (Jan 20 2003) 129790 Visual Resources Vol. XXI, No. 4, December 2005, pp. 329–345 ISSN 0197–3762 (print) # 2005 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/01973760500298070