Washington Irving
(1783–1859)

Named after the first American President, Washington Irving became the first American writer to achieve an international reputation. Born into a wealthy New York family, Irving began studying law at the age of 16. He had little interest in his studies, however, and spent much time traveling throughout Europe and New York's Hudson Valley and reading European literature. Irving also wrote satirical essays using the pen name Johnathan Oldstyle. When Irving was 24, he and his brother began publishing an anonymous magazine, Salmagundi (the name of a spicy appetizer), which carried humorous sketches and essays about New York society.

In 1809, Irving published his fist major work, A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, using the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker. The history, a humorous examination of New York during colonial times, was popular and made Irving famous.

From 1815 to 1832, Irving lived in Europe, traveling extensively and learning about European customs, traditions, and folklore. Inspired by the European folk heritage, Irving created two of his most famous stories, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle," transforming two traditional German tales into distinctly American stories set in the Hudson Valley. When Irving published these two stories in The Sketch Book (1820) under the pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon, writers and critics throughout Europe and the United States responded enthusiastically.

Irving produced a number of other books while living in Europe, including Bracebrige Hall (1822), Tales of a Traveller (1824), and The Alhambra (1832). Another of Irving's more famous stories, "The Devil and Tom Walker," an American adaptation of a German legend about a man who sells his soul to the devil, appeared in Tales of a Traveller.

Although Irving continued to write after returning to the United States in 1832, he is remembered mainly for a few of the stories he wrote while in Europe. Like the folk tales from which they were adapted, these stories have remained popular for generations, becoming an important part of the American literary heritage.

A  |  B  |  C  |  D  |  E  |  F  |  G  |  H  |  I  |  J  |  K  |  L  |  M
N  |  O  |  P  |  Q  |  R  |  S  |  T  |  U  |  V  |  W  |  X  |  Y  |  Z