Washington Irving - Biography

Recognized as America's first man of letters, Washington Irving was born April 3, 1783, in New York City. Before he was 26, he had published Diedrich Knickerbocker's History of New York; the name was later adopted by New York City as a kind of "knick" name.

Drawing from his knowledge of the Dutch-settled area along the Hudson River, Irving wrote the book with which most school children identify, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon Gent, which contained the well-known "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle."

Irving served U.S. Embassy posts in England and Spain and was America's first Spanish-speaking ambassador. While in London, he captured the images of "olde English" Christmas celebrations in his book, Bracebridge Hall. In Spain, the subjects of Columbus, the Alhambra and the Moors provided the background for a variety of imaginative, semi-scholarly works.

In the 1830s, Irving traveled to the American frontier, going down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and passing through Osage Country. Two more books followed that adventure.

Retiring to his home at Sunnyside along the shores of the Hudson River, Irving continued to write and became a friendly mentor to soon-to-be legendary American authors Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Edgar Allen Poe. He sustained his role as a distinguished American known at the courts of Europe and in the literary circles of England.

Irving died in Tarrytown, New York, on November 28, 1859. His Sunnyside home was made a public shrine in 1947.

Today, Washington Irving is credited with creating the short story. Later authors learned from and fashioned their short stories after his works. Irving was not boastful about his works. Instead, he had this to say, "If the tales I have furnished should prove to be bad, they will at least be found short." Irving's early works also set an example for humorous writing, which later became an important part of American literature. Irving also had a way of combining folklore with romanticism in his literary works. His contributions helped create America's romantic literary.