in the 1820s, prescott wrote two essays for the "north american review", an american academic journal. both were about italian poetry. however, prescott became interested in the history of spain due to his friend george ticknor, who had become professor of spanish studies at harvard university. prescott decided that he wanted to write a book about ferdinand and isabella, who were king and queen of spain in the early 1500s, in january 1826. after gathering source material, prescott started writing the "history of ferdinand and isabella" in october 1829. he had finished it by july 1836. it was published on christmas day, 1837 by the "american stationary company", which was based in boston, with a print run of 500 copies. prescott dedicated the book to his father. the book sold very well, and was published in london in 1838. prescott later made a shortened version of the work. in recognition of this work, he was awarded three honorary doctorates, by columbia university, college of william and mary and south carolina college.