Irving, Washington (1783-1859)

American Eras

Washington Irving (1783-1859)

Source

Author, historian, and diplomat

Diedrich Knickerbocker. Born into a successful New York City family, Washington Irving trained as a lawyer and went into partnership with one of his brothers. After publishing twenty numbers of the miscellany Salmagundi with his brother William and friend James K. Paulding in 1807 and 1808, Irving first gained fame as a writer through his satiric A History of New-York (1809), published under the fictitious name Diedrich Knickerbocker. In spite of the pseudonym, A History of New-York made him well known in New York. He was named the editor of the Analectic magazine in 1814 and resigned a year later to become aide-de-camp to the governor of New York in the closing stages of the War of 1812. In 1815 he traveled to Liverpool to look in on his family’s interests there and did not return to the United States until 1832.

Travels. While living in England, Irving worked as an agent for an American publisher, wrote for several English and Scottish journals, and was befriended by Sir Walter Scott. Irving decided to stay and “produce articles from time to time that will be sufficient for my present support, and form a stock of copyright property, that may be a little capital for me hereafter.” The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon, one of Irving’s best-known and most popular works, was his first full-fledged production of “copyright property.” Appearing first in the United States in 1819, The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon was successful enough to be followed by an English edition and then a second collection of essays, Bracebridge Hall (1822). Irving then went to France, where he wrote Tales of a Traveller (1824). The essay form suited Irving well, allowing him to publish his impressions of American and European customs without the restrictions of a novel’s controlling narrative line. The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon also contained several stories of Irving’s native New York State which have become integral parts of American folk culture: “The Spectre Bridegroom,” “Rip Van Winkle,” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

Later Years. In 1826 Irving went to Spain and involved himself in the study of Spanish literature and history. He established himself as a historian by producing two serious works, The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (1828) and Voyages of the Companions of Columbus (1831), as well as a satiric history, The Conquest of Granada (1829), under the pseudonym Fray Antonio Agapida. Finally he returned to lighter essays with The Alhambra (1832), a work that deeply inspired poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He returned to London to serve as secretary to the U.S. legation in 1829 and finally returned home as an established literary figure. He continued to write American history, and he returned to Spain to serve as ambassador from 1842 to 1846. He completed his Life of George Washington (1855–1859), conceived in 1825, shortly before his death in 1859.

Source

Mary Weatherspoon Bowden, Washington Irving (Boston: Twayne, 1981).

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