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Washington Irving
An American Writer
Perhaps the first writer to be officially American was
Washington Irving. It is appropriate that he was named for the
hero of the American Revolution and our first president, George
Washington. He was also home grown, a second generation
American. Finally, Irving can be designated as American since
he was the first fiction writer of consequence to be recognized
not only in the U.S. but in Europe as well. With the American
designation, there is also a note of irony. His most popular stories,
all with American locales, were written while he lived in Europe
and were based on folktales he had heard that were Dutch and
German in origin.
Irving was born in New York on April 3, 1783, into a fairly
well-to-do family; his father, William, was a successful merchant.
His parents were emigrants with ambitions for their 11 children.
Washington Irving studied the law and served as a law clerk
before he began his writing career. He was also widely traveled
and well read. In 1806 he was 23 years old and had recently
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Ichabod Crane
It is the Sketch Book that Irving is
best known for, although few Americans
today likely recognize the title. Better
known are Irvings characters: Ichabod
Crane and Rip van Winkle. Both were
first published in the Sketch Book. Irving
had first sent such stories as The Legend
of Sleepy Hollow to be published in
periodicals in the U.S. While in England,
his sketches were published in book
form by British publishers without his
permission. Ultimately, he decided to
publish and protect his copyright interests
by publishing in Europe and the U.S.
concurrently.