Washington Irving - (1783-1859)
|
I. Personal and Professional Biography Washington Irving was one of the first American authors to be acclaimed and recognized throughout the
world for his unique, intriguing writing style. He wrote short stories which he gained much fame for everywhere. Irving was born on April 3, 1783 in New York City. He
was the youngest of eleven children. He was part of an overall prosperous household. His father, William Irving, was a very strict, religious businessman. Due to health problems,
Irving stopped going to school at the age of sixteen. He did study law, however, privately for a while afterwards. He and his brother, Peter, published a newspaper called the Morning Chronicle
in 1802. It dealt with the events that were occurring at the time in the world, but with a very comical approach to it. From 1804 to 1806, he traveled extensively
around Europe. He learned a lot about the cultures of England, France, etc. His journey was very eye opening and exciting to him.
After returning to America, Irving his brother William and their friend James Paulding published a series of essays named Salmagundi. Then in December of 1809, his book Knickerbocker History of New York
came out. It was about the Dutch history of New York and many have said it was the first real book written by an American. His book was an instant hit in America and Europe.
In 1815, due to his loss of his fiancé, Matilda Hoffman, and for his love of Europe, Irving traveled back there and stayed there for seventeen years. He represented his family's
business in Europe and wrote more literature. In 1819 his most famous work was published, the Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Esq. This book contains his very popular stories of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and
Rip Van Winkle. Sleepy Hollow is a story about a man form New York City named Ichabold Crane who goes to Sleepy Hollow, New
York to learn more about several murders that occurred, and the murder suspect is a dead solider called the Headless Horseman. Rip Van Winkle is about a man, who goes into the
Catskill Mountains, meets dwarfs, falls asleep for twenty years, wake up and sees how different the world has become. While in Europe he also worked for President Martin Van Buren.
He had a joyous welcome from everyone when returning to the United States in 1832. He toured the South and then settled near Tarrytown, New York at a place called Sunnyside.
He wrote and published many more books and stories; none would be as famous as his earlier works. He died in November 28, 1859 at his Sunnyside estate in New York. II. Regional Influences
As a young adult, Washington Irving took many excursions and trips to the Hudson River Valley and the Catskills to escape the city life. Many of his stories are set in this area including Sleepy Hollow and
Rip Van Winkle. The tranquility and serene beauty of this area in New York left an everlasting attachment with Irving. He visited there, wrote about there, lived there, and died there. III. List of Works
Salmagundi 1807 IV. Links about Washington Irving
Knickerbocker History of New York 1809
The Sketchbook 1819
Bracebridge Hall 1822
Tales of a Traveler 1824
History and Voyages of Christopher Columbus 1828
Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada 1829
Companions of Columbus 1831
The Alhambra 1832
A Tour on the Prairies 1835
Astoria 1836
Essays and Sketches 1837
The Life of George Washington 1855-59
This website discusses a lot about the area in which Irving wrote. There is also a description of his Sunnyside home.http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi./wirving.htm
http://www.students.dsu.edu/bushd/Irving.htm
V. Sources Leary, Lewis
Washington Irving. McGraw-Hill Book Company: New York, 1963.
Washington Irving. [Online] Available May 24, 2000.
This essay was submitted by a student of Marylin Dykens, a teacher at Rome Free Academy in Rome, New York.