Washington Irving
Washington Irving is an author and is best known for his short stories “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle.¨He was an American short story writer,essayist,biographer,historian,and diplomat of the early 19th century.
Washington Irving lived in New York.He was born on April 3,1783 in New York. He died November 28 1859,in Tarrytown,N.Y. Washington Irving was the youngest of 11 brothers/sisters. After touring Europe from 1804-06, he returned to New York City to practice law, was not a good student, and in 1806 he barely passed the bar.
Despite the early successes, Irving's career stalled as he sought to figure out what to do next. He landed a job as editor of Analectic Magazine, and briefly served in the military during the War of 1812.Educated privately, Irving began writing essays under the pen name Jo nathan Oldstyle for the Morning Chronicle, which was edited by older brother Peter.After accepting an invitation from the U.S. Minister to Spain, he moved to Madrid in 1826 and embarked on extensive research for A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (1828), as well as the works that became Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada (1829) and Tales of the Alhambra (1832).
Washington Irving, “The First American Man Of Letters”:
Have you ever wanted to Know who wrote about the Headless horseman and how he “rode forth to the scenes of battle in nightly quest of his head?” Washington Irving is one of the most inspirational short story writers who has written stories from Rip Van Winkle to a historical biography on George Washington. He’s an amazing hard working man who has a been a role model to many European writers and is seen as the “first American man of letters,” but how did he become so famous?
Washington Irving, was born on April 3, 1783, in New York to his parents William Irving Sr. and Sarah née Sanders. His historical works include biographies of George Washington, Oliver Goldsmith, and Muhammad, and several histories of 15th-century Spain dealing with topics like Christopher Columbus.
Irving served as the U.S Ambassador to Spain from 1842 to 1846. He made his writing debut in 1802 with a series of letters to the Morning Chronicle. After moving to England for the family business in 1815, he achieved international fame with the publication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. in 1819 and 1820. He continued to publish a lot, and just eight months before his death at age 76 of a heart attack, in Tarrytown, New York, he completed his biography on George Washington.
Irving encouraged American authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Edgar Allan Poe. Irving was also respected by some European writers, including Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Thomas Campbell, Francis Jeffrey, and Charles Dickens. As America's first real internationally best-selling author, Irving fought for writing as an actual profession, and argued for stronger laws to protect American writers from copyright violations.
Although Irving is known for many different reasons his most popular is “The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow”. Irving originally lived in New York until the epidemic of the yellow fever spread. Yellow fever, which is spread by mosquitoes, was not understood in the 19th century. The living conditions were dangerous and unhealthy which brought him up the Hudson River to Westchester County to stay with his friend James Kirke Paulding in Tarrytown. That is where he first heard the rumor of a headless Hessian buried near the Old Dutch Church, who “rode forth to the scenes of battle in nightly quest of his head.” He later wrote his famous tale on the old haunted sayings.
Washington Irving was an inspiration to many writers back then and is still today as his works continue to be viewed and read all over the world.
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