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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

completed the grand tour


of Europe. He returned to
New York to begin service
as a law clerk, but he soon
decided a law practice was
not really his lifes goal.
In 1809 he published his
first book, a satire of local
New York history entitled A
History of New-York from the
Beginning of the World to the
End of the Dutch Dynasty,
by Dietrich Knickerbocker.
Writing under a pseudonym
was a common practice in the
Washington Irving
early 1800s, and Irving would
adopt a second nom de plume for his next work, a collection of
short stories under the name Geoffrey Crayon. He left for Europe
in 1815 -- initially, to visit his brother, but the brief visit soon
expanded to a 17-year stay -- where he wrote The Sketch Book of
Geoffrey Crayon, published in 1819-1820.

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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.

The most recent adaptation of Irvings


work is the 1999 movie directed by Tim
Burton, starring Johnny Depp as Ichabod
Crane. Perhaps the best adaptation is an
animated cartoon created by the Walt
Disney studios in 1949. That animated
feature, first released to theatres by RKO
Pictures, was called The Adventures of
Ichabod and Mr. Toad. It paired Irvings
story based in Sleepy Hollow with a
second short story written by another
author: The Wind in the Willows by
Kenneth Grahame. The Grahame story
featured a cast of human-like animals,
to include Mr. Toad, the rich resident
of Toad Hall. The two were released
as a double-bill single feature since the
running time for either one individually
These stories were widely praised by
was not adequate for a single movie.
such notable European writers as Charles
In 1958, Disney revived The Legend of
Dickens, Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
Sleepy Hollow for its television program,
and Lord, Byron. Irving would publish
Walt Disney Presents. Because the
additional books before returning to
Ichabod and the Headless Horseman
cartoon was unavailable for 10 years,
America in 1832. By that time, he was
a famous writer. Irving was well known for his easy going
there were rumors that Disney had banned the cartoon, some
personality, and he was particularly generous to other aspiring
citing that it was too scary for young children. There is no
American writers, encouraging their work and introducing them
evidence that the work was ever banned, and a complete version
to European publishers, who had the larger market for book sales of it is now available on YouTube. The Disney cartoon is, more or
at the time. After 1832, Irving purchased a farm on the banks of
less, faithful to the original story by Irving.
the Hudson River at Tarrytown, N.Y., where he would live until
his death in 1859. He is buried in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery at
Click on link to view YouTube version of The Legend of
Tarrytown.
Sleepy Hollow. There is also a PDF file in Moodle with the
complete text of the short story.

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