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Washington Irving
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 - November 28, 1859) was an American author of the early 19th century.
He was born in New York City. |
A lawyer, he served
as American ambassador to Britain and later to Spain. He spoke Spanish.
He was a prolific essayist who wrote widely respected biographies of
George Washington and Muhammad as well as other historical figures. He
also wrote books on 15th Century Spain dealing with subjects such as
Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra.
Irving traveled on
the Western frontier in the 1830s and was one of the few 19th Century
figures to speak out against the mishandling of relations with the
Native American tribes by Europeans.
He is said to have mentored authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Edgar Allan Poe.
In 1819-1820 he published The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, which included his best known stories:
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Rip van Winkle
Rip Van Winkle is a
man who sleeps for a hundred years and wakes in a world he cannot
recognize. The story was written overnight, while staying with his
sister, her husband, Henry van Wart, and their two sons and two
daughters, one of whom was his god- child, in Birmingham, England - a
place which also inspired some of his other works. Bracebridge Hall,
or, The Humorists, A Medley is based on Aston Hall, there.
One of the van
Wart's children would later name his first- born Washington Irving Van
Wart (b. 1836), whose neice in turn was called Rosalinda Irving Van
Wart (b. 1874).
It is believed that the city of Irving, Texas was named after him, as are Washington Stret and Irving Street in Birmingham.
The name "Rip van Winkle" has gone into the language to describe people who awake and cannot recognize their surroundings.
Washington Irving's grave, in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery of Sleepy Hollow, New York. It's the one with the flag in front of it.
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