Washington Irving

Considered the first professional man of letters in the United States, Washington Irving (1783-1859) was influential in the development of the short story form and helped to gain international respect for fledgling American literature.

Following the tradition of the eighteenth-century essay exemplified by the elegant, lightly humorous prose of Joseph Addison and Oliver Goldsmith, Irving created endearing and often satiric short stories and sketches. In his most-acclaimed work, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (1819-20), he wove elements of myth and folklore into narratives, such as "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," that achieved almost immediate classic status. Although Irving was also renowned in his lifetime for his extensive work in history and biography, it was through his short stories that he most strongly influenced American writing in subsequent generations and introduced a number of now-familiar images and archetypes into the body of the national literature.

Irving was born and raised in New York City, the youngest of eleven children of a prosperous merchant family. A dreamy and ineffectual student, he apprenticed himself in a law office rather than follow his elder brothers to nearby Columbia College. In his free time, he read avidly and wandered when he could in the misty, rolling Hudson River Valley, an area steeped in local folklore and legend that would serve as an inspiration for his later writings.

As a nineteen-year-old, Irving began contributing satirical letters under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle to a newspaper owned by his brother Peter. His first book, Salmagundi; or, The Whim-Whams and Opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, Esq., and Others (1807-08), was a collaboration with another brother, William, and their friend James Kirke Paulding. This highly popular collection of short pieces poked fun at the political, social, and cultural life of the city. Irving enjoyed a second success in 1809 with A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, a comical, deliberately inaccurate account of New York's Dutch colonization narrated by the fictitious Diedrich Knickerbocker, a fusty, colorful Dutch-American. His carefree social life and literary successes were shadowed at this time, however, by the death of his fiancee, Matilda Hoffmann, and for the next several years he floundered, wavering between a legal, mercantile, and editorial career. In 1815 he moved to England to work in the failing Liverpool branch of the family import-export business. Within three years the company was bankrupt, and, finding himself at age thirty-five without means of support, Irving decided that he would earn his living by writing. He began recording the impressions, thoughts, and descriptions which, polished and repolished in his meticulous manner, became the pieces that make up The Sketch Book. The volume was brought out under the pseudonym of Geoffrey Crayon, who was purportedly a good-natured American roaming Britain on his first trip abroad.

The Sketch Book comprises some thirty parts: about half English sketches, four general travel reminiscences, six literary essays, two descriptions of the American Indian, three essentially unclassifiable pieces, and three short stories: "Rip Van Winkle," "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,"and "The Spectre Bridegroom." Although only the last-named tale is set in Germany, all three stories draw upon the legends of that country. The book was published almost concurrently in the United States and England in order to escape the piracy to which literary works were vulnerable before international copyright laws, a shrewd move that many subsequent authors copied. The miscellaneous nature of The Sketch Book was an innovation that appealed to a broad range of readers; the work received a great deal of attention and sold briskly, and Irving found himself America's first international literary celebrity. In addition, the book's considerable profits allowed Irving to devote himself full-time to writing.

Remaining abroad for more than a decade after the appearance of The Sketch Book, Irving wrote steadily, capitalizing on his international success with two subsequent collections of tales and sketches that also appeared under the name Geoffrey Crayon. Bracebridge Hall; or, the Humorists: A Medley (1822) centers loosely around a fictitious English clan that Irving had introduced in several of the Sketch Book pieces. Bracebridge Hall further describes their manners, customs, and habits, and interjects several unrelated short stories, including "The Student from Salamanca" and "The Stout Gentleman." Tales of a Traveller (1824) consists entirely of short stories arranged in four categories: European stories, tales of London literary life, accounts of Italian bandits, and narrations by Irving's alter-ego, Diedrich Knickerbocker. The most enduring of these, according to many critics, are "The German Student," which some consider a significant early example of supernatural fiction, and "The Devil and Tom Walker," a Yankee tale that like "Rip Van Winkle" draws upon myth and legend for characters and incident. After 1824 Irving increasingly turned his attention from fiction and descriptive writing toward history and biography. He lived for several years in Spain, serving as a diplomatic attache to the American legation while writing a life of Christopher Columbus and a history of Granada. During this period he also began gathering material for The Alhambra (1832), a vibrantly romantic collection of sketches and tales centered around the Moorish palace in Granada.

Irving served as secretary to the American embassy in London from 1829 until 1832, when he returned to the United States. After receiving warm accolades from the literary and academic communities, he set out on a tour of the rugged western part of the country, which took him as far as Oklahoma. The expedition resulted in three books about the region, notably A Tour on the Prairies (1835), which provided easterners with their first description of life out west by a well-known author. Irving eventually settled near Tarrytown, New York, at a small estate on the Hudson River, which he named Sunnyside. Apart from four years in Madrid and Barcelona, which he spent as President John Tyler's minister to Spain, Irving lived there the rest of his life. Among the notable works of his later years is an extensive biography of George Washington, which Irving worked on determinedly, despite ill health, from the early 1850s until a few months before his death in 1859.

The Sketch Book prompted the first widespread critical response to Irving's writings. Reviewers in the United States were generally delighted with the work of their native son, and even English critics, normally hostile in that era to American authors, accorded the book generally favorable--if somewhat condescending--notice. Among the pieces singled out for praise in the early reviews were most frequently the three short stories, particularly "Rip Van Winkle." Critics found Irving's style pleasingly elegant, fine, and humorous, although some, including Richard Henry Dana, perceived a lack of intellectual content beneath the decorative surface. Dana also observed that in adopting the authorial persona of Geoffrey Crayon--with his prose style modeled after the eighteenth-century essayists--Irving lost the robustness, high color, and comic vigor of his previous incarnations as Jonathan Oldstyle, Launcelot Langstaff, and Diedrich Knickerbocker, an observation that was echoed by later critics. Subsequent "Crayon" works, such as Bracebridge Hall, Tales of a Traveller, and The Alhambra, while generally valued for their prose style, tended to prompt such complaints as that by the Irish author Maria Edgeworth that "the workmanship surpasses the work."

Beginning in the 1950s, however, critics began to explore technical and thematic innovations in Irving's short stories. These include the integration of folklore, myth, and fable into narrative fiction; setting and landscape as a reflection of theme and mood; the expression of the supernatural and use of Gothic elements in some stories; and the tension between imagination and creativity versus materialism and productivity in nineteenth-century America. Many critics read Rip's twenty-year sleep as a rejection of the capitalistic values of his society--ferociously personified by the shrewish Dame Van Winkle--and an embracing of the world of the imagination. Ichabod Crane, too, has been viewed by such critics as Robert Bone as representing the outcast artist-intellectual in American society, although he has been considered, conversely, as a caricature of the acquisitive, scheming Yankee Puritan, a type that Irving lampooned regularly in his early satirical writings.

Today, many critics concur with Fred Lewis Pattee's assertion that the "American short story began in 1819 with Washington Irving." Commentators agree, moreover, that in "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," Irving established an artistic standard and model for subsequent generations of American short story writers. As George Snell wrote: "It is quite possible to say that Irving unconsciously shaped a principal current in American fiction, whatever may be the relative unimportance of his own work." In their continuing attention to the best of Irving's short fiction, critics affirm that while much of Irving's significance belongs properly to literary history, such stories as "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" belong to literary art.

[We] have to thank Mr. Irving for being the first to begin and persevere in works which may be called purely literary. His success has done more to remove our anxiety for the fate of such works, than all we have read or heard about the disposition to encourage American genius.

Mr. Irving's success does not rest, perhaps, wholly upon his merit, however great. Salmagundi came out in numbers, and a little at a time. With a few exceptions it treated of the city--what was seen and felt, and easy to be understood by those in society. It had to do with the present and real, not the distant and ideal. It was exceedingly pleasant morning or after-dinner reading, never taking up too much of a gentleman's time from his business and pleasures, nor so exalted and spiritualized as to seem mystical to his far reaching vision....

Mr. Irving has taken the lead [in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.], in the witty, humourous and playful cast of works--those suited to our happier feelings.... He has not modelled himself upon any body, but has taken things just as he found them, and treated them according to his own humour. So that you never feel as when looking at [ The Sketch Book], that you have gotten a piece of second-hand furniture, scraped and varnished till made to look fine and modern, that it may be put to a new use. His wit and humor do not appear to come of reading witty and humorous books; but it is the world acting upon a mind of that cast, and putting those powers in motion. There are parts, it is true, which remind you of other authors, not, however, as imitations, but resemblances of mind....

Amidst the abundance of his wit and drollery, you never meet with any bilious sarcasm. He turns aside from the vices of men to be amused with their affectation and foibles; and the entertainment he finds in these seems to be from a pure goodness of soul--a sense that they are seldom found in thoroughly depraved and hardened hearts....

Amiableness is so strongly marked in all Mr. Irving's writings as never to let you forget the man; and the pleasure is doubled in the same manner as it is in lively conversation with one for whom you have a deep attachment and esteem. There is in it also, the gayety and airiness of a light, pure spirit--a fanciful playing with common things, and here and there beautiful touches, till the ludicrous becomes half picturesque.

Though many of the characters and circumstances in Salmagundi are necessarily without such associations, yet the Cocklofts are not only the most witty and eccentric, but the most thoroughly sentimental folks in the world.... With a very few exceptions, [Irving's] sentiment is in a purer taste, and bettersustained, where it is mixed with witty and ludicrous characters and circumstances, than where it stands by itself. He not only shows a contemplative, sentimental mind, but what is more rare, a power of mingling with his wit, the wild, mysterious and visionary....

It looks a little like impertinent interference to advise a man to undertake subjects of a particular sort, who is so well suited for variety in kind. Nor do we wish that Mr. Irving should give up entirely the purely witty, of humorous, for those of a mixed nature. We would only express our opinion of the deep interest which such writings excite, and of his peculiar fitness for them; and at the same time suggest to him the great advantages he gains by changing from one to the other. For ourselves, we have no fear of being tired of his wit or humour, so long as they come from him freely. He is much more powerful in them, than in the solely sentimental or pathetic.

We give him joy of making his way so miraculously, as not to offend the dignity of many stately folks, and pray him go on and prosper. It was a bold undertaking in a country where we are in the habit of calling humour, buffoonery--and wit, folly....

Mr. Irving's style in his lighter productions, is suited to his subject. He has not thought it necessary to write the history of the family of the Giblets as he would that of the Gracchi, nor to descant upon Mustapha's Breeches in all the formality of a lecture. He is full, idiomatic and easy to an uncommon degree; and though we have observed a few grammatical errors, they are of a kind which appear to arise from the hurry in which such works are commonly written. There are, likewise, one or two Americanisms. Upon the whole, it is superior to any instance of the easy style in this country, that we can call to mind. That of the Foresters is more free from faults than Mr. Irving's, but not so rich. The principal defect in his humorous style is a multiplying of epithets, which, making no new impression, weaken from diffusion. It is too much like forcing a good thing upon us till we think it good for nothing. We make no objection to a style rich with epithets, which have fitness and character, unless they are strung along so as to look like a procession. But Mr. Irving's are sometimes put upon a service for which they were never intended, and only occasion confusion and delay.

Another fault, and one easily to be avoided, is the employing of certain worn out veterans in the cause of wit. Indeed, we owe it to him to say, that we believe he has now dismissed them, as we do not meet with them in the Sketch Book. ...

Another fault, which is found principally in Knickerbocker, is that of forcing wit as if from duty--running it down, and then whipping and spurring it into motion again--as in that part upon the different theories of philosophers. Wit must appear to come accidentally, or the effect is lost....

Salmagundi is full of variety, and almost every thing good of its kind. Though upon an old plan, nothing can be better done than some of Mustapha's letters, particularly those upon a Military Review, and the City Assembly.

At parting company with Salmagundi, we cannot but say again, that though its wit is sometimes forced, and its serious style sometimes false, upon looking it over, we have found it full of entertainment, with an infinite variety of characters and circumstances, and with that amiable, good natured wit and pathos, which show that the heart has not grown hard while making merry of the world.

There is but little room left for Knickerbocker, of which we are glad to say, a third and very neat edition has lately been put out. As our remarks upon Salmagundi will apply equally well to this work, and an analysis of a story, which every one has read, is dull matter, we the less regret it. It has the same faults and same good qualities in its style, its wit and humour; and its characters are evidently by the same hand as the leading ones in Salmagundi, though not copies from them. They are perfectly fresh and original, and suited to their situations. Too much of the first part of the first volume is laborious and up hill; and there are places, here and there, in the last part to which there is the same objection....

It was delightful meeting once more with an old acquaintance who had been so long absent from us; and we felt our hearts lightened and cheered when we, for the first time, took the Sketch Book into our hands. Foreigners can know nothing of the sensation; for authors are as numerous and common with them, as street acquaintances. We, who have only two or three, are as closely attached to them, as if they were our brothers. And this one is the same mild, cheerful, fanciful, thoughtful, humorous being that we parted with a few years ago, though something changed in manner by travel. We will be open with him, and tell him that we do not think the change is for the better. He appears to have lost a little of that natural run of style, for which his lighter writings were so remarkable. He has given up something of his direct, simple manner, and plain phraseology, for a more studied, periphrastical mode of expression. He seems to have exchanged works and phrases, which were strong, distinct and definite, for a genteel sort of language, cool, less definite, and general. It is as if his mother English had been sent abroad to be improved, and in attempting to become accomplished, had lost too many of her home qualities.... He too often aims at effect by a stately inversion of sentences. Another and a greater error, which is found principally in his serious and sentimental writings, is an incorrect use of figurative language, which is, frequently, from connecting a word, strictly an image, with one which is not, so as to present a picture to the mind's eye, and the next moment rub it out. This appears to be owing to a mere oversight, a want of considering that any figure was used. Another is, connecting two words which are figures, but quite hostile to one another, so that they seem brought together for no other purpose than to put an end to each other....

We have made these short remarks, and given these few instances, because it is faults of this kind which make our style feeble and impure, rather than the use of Americanisms, as they are called.... This defect of vision in picturesque language is the more singular in Mr. Irving, as he has an eye for nature, and all his pictures from it are drawn with great truth and spirit. The Sketch Book is extremely popular, and it is worthy of being so. Yet it is with surprise that we have heard its style indiscriminately praised.

We have already stated, why we consider Mr. Irving's former works, though more obviously bad in places, still, as a whole, superior in point of style to the Sketch Book. The same difference holds with respect to the strength, quickness and life of the thoughts and feelings. The air about this last work is soft, but there is a still languor in it. It is not breezy and fresh like that which was stirring over the others. He appears to us to have taken up some wrong notion of a subdued elegance, as different from the true, as in manners, the elegance of fashion is from that of character. There is an appearance of too great elaboration....

"The Broken Heart" has passages as beautiful and touching as any that Mr. Irving has written, but they are frequently injured by some studied, unappropriate epithet or phraseology which jars upon the feelings. The general reflections have a deep and tender thoughtfulness in them, and are much too good for the story. It is enough to meet in life with those who can make themselves over to one man, for lucre, or something worse or better, while their hearts are with another; but in a work of sentiment it is revolting....

Another fault--which is from the same false theory--is laying open to the common gaze and common talk, feelings the very life of which is secrecy....

"Rip Van Winkle" is our favorite amongst the new stories. We feel more at home in it with the author, than in any of this collection. Rip's idle good nature, which made him the favorite of the boys--his `aversion to all kinds of profitable labour,' `thinking it no use to work upon his own farm because every thing about it went wrong, and would go wrong, in spite of him,' yet always ready to help his neighbours--`the foremost at husking frolics, and building stone fences,' and ready at running errands for all the old wives in the village--and toiling all day at fishing and shooting--these show a thorough understanding of the apparent contradictions in character, and are set forth in excellent humour.... The mountain scenery is given with great beauty, and the ghostly party at ninepins is at the same time laughable and picturesque. The author's mind is highly fanciful and exactly suited to such scenes....

Mr. Irving's scenery is so perfectly true--so full of little beautiful particulars, so varied, yet so connected in character, that the distant is brought nigh to us, and the whole is seen and felt like a delightful reality. It is all gentleness and sunshine; the bright and holy influences of nature fall on us, and our disturbed and lowering spirit is make clear and tranquil--turned all to beauty, like clouds shone on by the moon. Though we see in it nothing of the troubles and vices of life, we believe Mr. Irving found all he has described. If there be any thing which can give purity and true dignity to the character of man, it is country employments and scenery acting upon a cultivated mind....

Historical Context

• The Life and Times of Washington Irving (1783-1859)
• At the time of Irving's birth:
• Treaty of Paris formally recognized American independence
• Spanish siege of Gibraltar ended
• First demonstration of hot-air balloon in Annonay, France
• At the time of Irving's death:
• James Buchanan was president of the United States
• Charles Darwin published Origin of Species
• Construction began on Suez Canal
• The times:
• 1765-1830: Revolutionary and Early National Period of American literature
• 1789-1799: French Revolution
• 1795-1815: The Napoleonic Era
• 1775-1783: American War of Independence
• 1812-1814: War of 1812
• 1830-1865: Romantic Period of American literature
• Irving's contemporaries:
• Daniel Boone (1734-1820) American pioneer
• George Washington (1732-1820) American president
• Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791) Austrian composer
• William Wordsworth (1770-1850) British writer
• Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) American president
• Davy Crockett (1786-1836) American explorer and woodsman
• Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) German composer
• Jane Austen (1775-1817) British writer
• John Keats (1795-1821) British writer
• Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American writer
• Selected world events:
• 1787: Constitution of United States was written
• 1793: Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette beheaded
• 1794: William Blake published Songs of Experience
• 1800: Mme. Tussaud's wax museum opened in London
• 1811: Jane Austen published Sense and Sensibility
• 1822: William Church invented first typesetting machine
• 1827: Frederick William Herschel invented contact lenses
• 1831: Victor Hugo published Notre-Dame de Paris
• 1845: World's first wire cable suspension bridge opened
• 1857: Atlantic Monthly magazine began publication

Further Reading

• Bleiler, E. F., editor, Supernatural Fiction Writers: Fantasy and Horror 2: A. E. Coppard to Roger Zelazny, Scribners, 1985, pp. 685-91.
• Bowden, Mary Weatherspoon, Washington Irving, Twayne, 1981.
• Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography: Colonization to the American Renaissance, 1640-1865, Gale, 1988.
• Dictionary of Literary Biography, Gale, Volume 3: Antebellum Writers in New York and the South, 1979, Volume 11: American Humorists, 1800-1950, 1982, Volume 30: American Historians, 1607-1865, 1984, Volume 59: American Literary Critics and Scholars,1800-1850, 1987, Volume 73: American Magazine Journalists 1741-1850, 1988, Volume 74: American Short-Story Writers before 1880, 1988.
• Harbert, Earl N., and Robert A. Rees, editor, Fifteen American Authors before 1900: Bibliographic Essays on Research and Criticism, University of Wisconsin Press, 1984.
• Hedges, William L., Washington Irving: An American Study, 1802-1832, Johns Hopkins Press, 1965.
• Leary, Lewis, Washington Irving, University of Minnesota Press, 1963.