1. Washington Irving
An American Author
1783 - 1859

2. Personal Background
• Born in New York City
• One of eleven children of Scottish-English immigrant parents
• Irving’s Father was a merchant and Mother was daughter of English
clergymen
• Both Parents were patriotic, since the American revolution were
ending
• Named after George Washington
• Educated privately, studied law, and wrote essays and periodicals.
• Went to school until he was 24 and passed the bar exam in 1807
• Engaged to Matilda Hoffman who died in 1809 at age of 17 ….Irving
never engaged or married again.

3. Irving’s Background Highlights
• Books that influenced him, “Robinson Crusoe”, “Sinbad the Sailor”, and
“The world Displayed”
• 1804-1807- Lived in Germany and France, wrote whimsical journals &
letters.
• 1807-1808- with his brother William Irving and James Kirke Paulding wrote
the Salamagundi papers, a collection of humorous essays.
• 1809- Irving became more widely known for his comic work, A History of
New York.
• “History of New York” is a landmark in American satirical
literature, written under the name of "Diedrich Knickerbocker.“

4. The famous
Knickerbocker name
• Made up a name “Diedrich
Knickerbocker” as author to
mock the Dutch people in
New York, “A History of
New York”
• Borrowed the name from
congressman Herman
Knickerbocker in 1809

5. Highlights Con’t.
• 1819-1820- he composed a collection of stories and
essays that became The Sketch Book, under the pen
name "Geoffrey Crayon“, which included “Rip Van
Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
• In 1822- worked in Embassy at Madrid, he researched
the biography of Christopher Columbus.
• 1829- He was secretary of the US legation in London
• 1842- 1846 -US ambassador to Spain
• After Spain, Irving spent most of the rest of his life at
his estate, ‘Sunnyside’, near Tarrytown, NY, where he
finished the 5 volume biography of George Washington

6. Irving’s Claim to
International Fame
• Popularity of 29 short
stories spread
• Writings were published
in America and across
Europe
• “Rip Van Winkle” and
“The Legend of Sleepy
Hollow”

7. Legacy of Sleepy Hollow

8. Major Themes
The Legend of
Sleepy Hollow
• The Power of the
Imagination
• Lack of Class Structure in
America
• Abundance of Resources in
America
• The Natural vs. the
Supernatural
• Human selfishness

9. Major Themes
Rip Van Winkle
• New world and old world
• A Challenge to American
values

10. Facts and legacy of Washington Irving
• Best-known for his short stories, “The Legend of Sleepy
Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle”
• “A History of New York” helped popularized jolly old St.
Nicholas, and giving birth to the modern American
Christmas
• He called the city of New York by the name Gotham
• Before Irving, no American earned a living as a author
• Irving advocated for writing as a legitimate career, and
argued for stronger laws to protect writers from
copyright infringement.

11. Irving’s Literary Works
 Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey
 The Broken Heart
 The Adventures of Captain Bonneville
 The Art of Book-Making
 Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise  A Royal Poet
 Beyond the Rocky Mountains  The Country Church
 Bracebridge Hall or the Humorists  The Widow and her Son
 Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada  A Sunday in London
 The Boar’s Head Tavern
 The Crayon Papers
 The Mutability of Literature
 Knickerbocker’s History of New York  Rural Funerals
 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow  The Inn Kitchen
 The Life of Christopher Columbus, Volume 1,  The Spectre Bridegroom
 The Life of Christopher Columbus, Volume 2  Westminster Abbey
 Christmas
 The Life of George Washington, Volume 1
 The Stage-Coach
 Old Christmas  Christmas Eve
 Oliver Goldsmith, a biography  Christmas Day
 The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon  The Christmas Dinner
 Preface  London Antiques
 Little Britain
 The Author’s Account of Himself
 Stratford-on-Avon
 The Voyage  Traits of Indian Character
 Roscoe  Philip of Pokanoket
 The Wife  Tales of a Traveller
 Rip Van Winkle  Wolfert’s Roost and Miscellanies
 English Writers on America
 Rural Life in England

12. Works Cited
• Burstein, Andrew. “The Original Knickerbocker”
• http://www.biography.com/people/washington-irving-
9350087
• Http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/indians/irving.html
• http://sprg.ssl.berkeley.edu/~jmcd/book/revs/khny.html