Washington Irving Biography

Born: April 3, 1783

New York, New York
Died: November 28, 1859
Irvington, New York
American author
Considered the first professional distinguished writer in the United States with
short stories like "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,"
Washington Irving was influential in the development of the short story form and
helped to gain international respect for American literature.

Childhood
Washington Irving was born and raised in New York City, the youngest of
eleven children of a prosperous merchant family. Named after President
George Washington (1732–1799), Irving was fascinated by the upper class of
New York City and would often sneak out of family prayer meetings to attend
the local theatre.

Washington Irving.
Courtesy of the
Library of Congress
.

A dreamy and uninspired student, Irving apprenticed (worked to gain

experience in a trade) himself in a law office rather than follow his elder brothers
to nearby Columbia College. In his free time, he read avidly and wandered
when he could around the misty, rolling Hudson River Valley. This area just
north of New York City was steeped in local folklore and legend and served as
an inspiration for his later writings.

Begins writing career

As a nineteen-year-old, Irving began contributing letters under the pseudonym
(assumed name) Jonathan Oldstyle to a news-paper owned by his brother
Peter. His first book, Salmagundi (1807–08), was a collaboration with another
brother, William, and their friend James Kirke Paulding. This highly popular
collection of short pieces poked fun at the political, social, and cultural life of the
city.
Irving enjoyed a second success in 1809 with A History of New York, from the
Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, a comical and
purposefully inaccurate account of New York's Dutch colonization (settlement
by a foreign nation) narrated by another pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, a
Dutch American.
Irving's carefree social life and literary successes were shadowed at this time,
however, by the death of his fiancée, Matilda Hoffmann. For the next several
years he floundered, wavering between a legal and writing career.

Life in England
In 1815 Irving moved to England to work in the failing Liverpool branch of the
family import-export business. Within three years the company was bankrupt,
and, finding himself at age thirty-five without means of support, Irving decided
that he would earn his living by writing. He began recording the impressions,
thoughts, and descriptions, which he reworked several times. These became
the pieces that make up The Sketch Book. The volume was introduced under
the pseudonym of Geoffrey Crayon.
The Sketch Book comprises some thirty parts: about half English sketches, four
general travel pieces, six literary essays, two descriptions of the American
Indian, three essentially unclassifiable pieces, and three short stories: "Rip Van
Winkle," "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," and "The Spectre Bridegroom." The
varied material in The Sketch Book appealed to a broad range of readers; the
work received a great deal of attention and sold quickly. Irving found himself
America's first international literary celebrity. In addition, the book's
considerable profits allowed Irving to devote himself full time to writing.
Remaining in Europe for more than a decade after the appearance of The
Sketch Book, Irving wrote steadily, and soon published Bracebridge Hall; or, the
Humorists: A Medley (1822), which centers loosely around a fictitious
English clan that Irving had introduced in The Sketch Book.
After 1824 Irving increasingly turned his attention from fiction and descriptive
writing toward history and biography. He lived for several years in Spain,
serving as a diplomatic attaché (a person who works for their government in a
foreign country) to the American embassy in Spain while writing a life of
Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) and a history of Granada, Spain. Irving
served as secretary to the American embassy in London from 1829 until 1832,
when he returned to the United States.

An American celebrity
 After receiving warm praise from the literary and academic communities, Irving
set out on a tour of the rugged western part of the country, which took him as
far as Oklahoma. The expedition resulted in three books about the region,
notably A Tour on the Prairies (1835), which provided easterners with their first
description of life out west by a well-known author. Irving eventually settled near
Tarrytown, New York, at a small estate on the Hudson River, which he named
Sunnyside.
Among the notable works of Irving's later years is an extensive biography of
George Washington (1732–1799), which he worked on determinedly, despite ill
health, from the early 1850s until a few months before his death in 1859. As
America's first literary star with stories like "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of
Sleepy Hollow," Irving established an artistic standard and model for later
generations of American short story writers.

For More Information

Bowden, Mary Weatherspoon. Washington Irving. New York: Twayne, 1981.
Curtis, George William. Washington Irving: A Sketch. New York: The Grolier
Club, 1891. Reprint, Philadelphia: R. West, 1978.
Irving, Pierre M. The Life and Letters of Washington Irving. New York: Putnam,
1862–64. Reprint, New York: AMS Press, 1973.
Leary, Lewis. Washington Irving. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press,
1963.
Williams, Stanley T. The Life of Washington Irving. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1935. Reprint, New York: Octagon Books, 1971.

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Washington Irving Biography

Writer(1783–1859)
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Famed 19th century American author Washington Irving is known for his biographical
works and such stories as 'Rip Van Winkle' and 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.'

Synopsis
Author Washington Irving was born in New York City in 1783. He achieved
international fame for the fictional stories "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of
Sleepy Hollow," as well as for such biographical works as A History of the Life and
Voyages of Christopher Columbus. Irving also served as the U.S. ambassador to Spain
in the 1840s, and pushed for stronger copyright laws before his death in 1859.

Early Years and Career

Washington Irving was born on April 3, 1783, in New York City. The youngest of 11
children of Scottish-English immigrant parents William Sr. and Sarah, he was named
after George Washington, the hero of the just-completed American Revolution, and
attended the presidential inauguration of his namesake in 1789.

Educated privately, Irving began writing essays under the pen name Jonathan Oldstyle
for the Morning Chronicle, which was edited by older brother Peter. After touring
Europe from 1804-06, he returned to New York City to practice law – through by his
own admission, he was not a good student, and in 1806 he barely passed the bar.

Preferring to indulge his creative impulses, Irving teamed with friend James Kirke
Paulding and oldest brother William to publish Salamagundi, a periodical of humorous
essays. In a similar vein, he penned the History of New-York from the Beginning of the
World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker (1809), a satirical
work that earned the writer widespread acclaim.

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.

European Residency and Fame

In 1815, Washington Irving traveled to England to help his brothers with the
floundering family business. When that endeavor failed, he composed a collection of
stories and essays that became The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Published in
several installments over the course of 1819-20, The Sketch Book contained two of the
author's most famous works, "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,"
and made him a literary star both in England and the United States.

Irving followed with Bracebridge Hall (1822), and then Tales of a Traveller(1824).
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). Irving was then
appointed secretary of the U.S. legation to London in 1829, a post he held until 1832.
Later Years, Death and Legacy

Upon returning to the U.S. in 1832, Washington Irving visited some of the little-known
territories off the western fringes of the country, an expedition that inspired A Tour on
the Prairies (1835). Continuing the western frontier theme, he wrote Astoria (1836), an
account of the formation of John Jacob Astor's fur company, followed by The
Adventures of Captain Bonneville (1837).

After another stint abroad as U.S. minister to Spain (1842-46), Irving spent his later
years at his New York estate of "Sunnyside," which served as a meeting place for the
leading writers, artists and politicians of his era. He turned out a succession of mainly
historical and biographical works during this time, including the five-volume Life of
George Washington(1855-59). Irving passed away at his estate on November 28, 1859.

Considered perhaps the first true American writer, Irving sought to nurture his
successors and pushed for stronger laws to protect writers from copyright infringement.
The terminology of his works seeped into American popular culture, with monikers
such as "knickerbocker" and "Gotham" becoming affiliated with New York City.
Underscoring the endurance of his fictional creations, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
was adapted into a 1999 film by director Tim Burton, and served as the basis for a TV
series in 2013.

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Citation Information

Article Title

Washington Irving Biography

Author

Website Name

The Biography.com website

URL

https://www.biography.com/people/washington-irving-9350087

Access Date

March 19, 2018

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

October 20, 2015

Original Published Date

n/a

Washington Irving Biography

Washington Irving was America's first genuine internationally best-selling author. This biography provides
detailed information about his childhood, life, career, achievements and timeline.

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Quick Facts
Famous As: Author, Historian, Diplomat
Nationality: American
Birth Date: April 3, 1783
Died At Age: 76
Sun Sign: Aries
Born In: New York City, New York
Father: William Irving Sr.
Mother: Sarah Irving
Siblings: Ann Irving, Catherine Irving, Ebenezer Irving, John Treat Irving, Peter Irving,
Sarah Irving, William Irving
Died On: November 28, 1859
Place Of Death: Sunnyside, Tarrytown, New York
Discoveries/Inventions: Almighty Dollar

Image Credit

Washington Irving As PDF

If you have been in love with the character of Rip Van Winkle since you were an
adolescent, you need to thank Washington Irving time and again for helping you escape
into the world of fantasy, leaving aside the realities of life. The creator of the character,
Irving was an American author and essayist of the early 19th century who shot to fame with
the famous short story, ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’. Irving’s got interested in writing at
an early age. He started off by writing a series of observational letters to the Morning
Chronicle. It was when he relocated to England that he penned his debut book, ‘The
Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent’. The book brought him international fame and
reputation. It was superlative success of his debut venture that led him to continue his
writing spree. Interestingly, all his publications were a major hit and contributed to his
success. Other than short stories and essays, he also penned biographies of well-known
and eminent world personalities like Oliver Goldsmith and George Washington, the latter of
which extended to five volumes. In his lifetime, he also served as US Ambassador to Spain
from 1842 to 1846. All his life, he worked for making writing a legitimate profession. He
even worked to bring up strong laws to protect the writers from copyright problems.

Recommended Lists:
Quotes By Washington Irving

Diplomats

Essayists

Biographers
Childhood & Early Life
 Washington Irving was born on April 3, 1783 to William Irving Sr and Sarah in New
York City. He had eleven siblings out of which only eight survived to adulthood.
 He met his namesake, George Washington, at a very young age and captured the
moment in a small painting which is present till date.
 Much against the family tradition of becoming merchants, young Irving had an
inherent interest in literature and pursued the same. Interestingly, his brothers
supported him in his literary pursuits, monetarily helping him chase his passion.
 Academically, he wasn’t a dedicated student and instead preferred to attend theatre
than sit in class. It was during the outbreak of the 1798 yellow fever that he left
Manhattan for health reasons.
Recommended Lists:
Short Story Writers
American Men
American Writers
American Essayists
Career
 In 1802, he started submitting letters to the New York Morning Chronicle under the
pen name, Jonathan Oldstyle. This was the modest beginning of his legendary
literary career.
 From 1804 to 1806, he undertook a trip to Europe learning the social and
conversational skills that helped him at the later stages of life. In between, he was
also persuaded to take up painting as a profession which did not materialize.
 Upon returning from Europe, he took up law classes under Judge Josiah Ogden
Hoffman, his legal mentor. In 1806, he just about passed the bar examination.
 In 1807, with the help of his brother and friend, he started a literary magazine,
Salmagundi. The content of the magazine included critical comments on New
York’s culture and politics.
 The success of Salmagundi built his reputation outside New York. It was in 1809
that he completed his first major book titled, ‘A History of New-York from the
Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty’. The book met with
immediate critical and popular success.
 Post the impressive success in his debut venture, he acquired the position of an
editor at the Analectic Magazine. In the new capacity, he did some outstanding
work, the most remarkable amongst which was reprinting Francis Scott Key's poem
that would go on to become the national anthem of the United States.
 He was opposed to the War of 1812 but when the British attacked Washington D. C
in 1814, he changed his mind enlisted. In 1814, he was drafted as the staff of
Daniel Tompkins, governor of New York and commander of the New York State
Militia. The devastating and ruinous nature of the war led him to leave for England
in 1815.
 Despite his attempts to reinstate the family’s financial position, the family was
declared bankrupt. It was during this time that he first created the legendary
character of ‘Rip Van Winkle’.
 In 1819, he sent his brother in New York a set of short piece of prose titled, ‘The
Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent’ to get it published. The first instalment was
received with much praise and success leading to the publication of the equally
successful seven follow-ups.
 The soaring literary career gave him a star status in Europe. To prevent piracy and
illegal reprinting of his works, he appointed John Murray as his preferred publisher.
 Together with Murray, he was eager to replicate the success of his ‘Sketch Book’.
As such, he spent much of 1821 exploring Europe for a new material. Moving past
various hurdles, he finally submitted his work in 1822.
 In June 1822, ‘The Bracebridge Hall’ was published. The book was similar to his
previous venture, narrating about fifty short stories that are loosely connected to
each other. It met with much success further cementing his reputation as an author.
 In 1823, he collaborated with playwright John Howard Payne working on translating
French plays in English. However, the same did not meet with much success. The
following year, he published a collection of essays titled, ‘Tales of a Traveller’,
which though commercially moderately successful was critically panned.
 The bad reception of the book caused him to retreat to Paris where he thought of
new ideas for projects that somehow never came to frame. It was in 1826 that he
received a letter from Alexander Hill Everett in which he sent him an invitation to
move to Madrid.
 At Madrid, he was exposed to a number of manuscripts that dealt with the Spanish
conquest of America. He gained full access to the American library of Spanish
history and began working on the new-found material.
 His first piece of work from his new material was ‘A History of the Life and Voyages
of Christopher Columbus’, which was published in January 1828. The book reigned
at the book shelves and was extremely popular in the US and Europe. It had 175
editions and was the first book which he published in his own name.
 The great success of this book led him to publish ‘Chronicle of the Conquest of
Granada’ the following year. Furthermore, he published his third venture in Spanish
books, ‘Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus’. Interestingly, all
his three books ad a mix of both history and fiction.
 In 1829, he left for England after being appointed as the Secretary to the American
Legation in London. He took the role of aide-de-camp. In the new capacity, he tried
to strike trade negotiation between the United States and the British West Indies.
 He did not continue in the new position for long and resigned from his duties to
concentrate on his writing. He started completing his unfinished work of 1829 titled,
‘Tales of the Alhambra’ which was published in the US and England in 1832.
 In 1832, he returned to New York after seventeen year of hiatus. He toured some of
the cities of US and came out with his next work, titled, ‘A Tour on the Praries’. The
book met with grand success.
 In 1836, he came up with a biographical account of Jacob Astor’s fur trading
company, ‘Astoria’. The following year, he released the book, ‘The Adventures of
Captain Bonneville’.
 He was offered to write essays and short stories for The Knickerbocker magazine.
Furthermore, he became an advisor to the budding authors who approached him
for advice and endorsements.
 In 1842, he was appointed as the Minister to Spain by President John Tyler. In the
new capacity, he found himself in the middle of political mayhem which Spain was
experiencing. No sooner, he was exhausted by the turn of events and the political
chaos.
 His duties in Spain stretched until 1846 after which he returned to America and
began working on his next literary piece ‘Author's Revised Edition’, revising older
works for George Palmer Putnam.
  His later works included writing on the works of Islamic prophet Muhammad,
biography of Oliver Goldsmith and George Washington. For the latter, he indulged
in much research work and published five volumes of the biography.

Recommended Lists:
American Diplomats
American Biographers
American Short Story Writers
Aries Men
Awards & Achievements
 In 1830, he was awarded a medal by the Royal Society of Literature. The following
year, he received an honorary doctorate of civil law from Oxford

Personal Life & Legacy

 He did not go into the wedlock in his life, but was romantically attracted to Emily,
daughter of the royal family of Dresden, Fosters, while he was in Germany.
Following her refusal to his offer of marriage, he relocated from Germany.
 He breathed his last on November 28, 1859 due to heart attack. He was buried at
Sleepy Hollow cemetery two days later.
 To honor his literary contribution, several schools, parks, memorials, the city of
Irving in Texas, a community area at Irving Park and Irving Trust Corporation has
been named after him. He also has to his credit Washington Irving literary society,
Indianapolis, Indiana neighborhood of Irvington and the town of Knickerbocker,
Texas.
 His home Sunnyside has become a historic site and is open to public for tours.
  He was pictured on the 1 cent US postage stamp in the Famous American/Authors
series, issued on January 29, 1940.

Trivia
 This American author and creator of the legendary character of Rip Van Winkle is
popularly known to the world as the first American Man of Letters.