1. WASHINGTON IRVING ( )

2. He was born (April 3, 1783) in the city of York, in the family of a prosperous merchant who came to America from Scotland. He was brought in an easy & carefree atmosphere.

3. Washington, the youngest of eleven children, being sickly in childhood, was not sent to school. His English-born mother had him educated at home.

4. He was well-read in Chaucer & Spencer, & the 18th century English literature

5. He was wandering around the country-side & he made himself familiar with places famous in history & legends.

6. When he grew older, he longed to travel
When he grew older, he longed to travel. Tales of voyages became his passion.

7. At 15 he tried his hands at writing but his father wanted him to be a lawyer. At 17 he was sent to study law. But Irving avoided a college education, but studied law himself, mostly in the office of Mr. Hoffman, with whose daughter he soon fell in love.

8. In 1802 Irving produced a number of satirical essays under the signature of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent. for the Morning Chronicle, made several trips up the Hudson, another into Canada for his health.

9. In 1804, a journey to Europe undertaken for the sake of his health, stimulated his interesting foreign culture He visited many European countries.

10. In England he loved to wander among ruined castles & old abbeys.

11. FRANCE

12. In Paris he studied science at the university.

13. SWEDEN & HOLLAND

14. ITALY

16. After 2 years of travelling he returned to the USA & started a humorous periodical. The paper was popular for its good humour.

17. He wrote “A History of New York by Diedrich Knickerbocker”, a satire of the Dutch regime in New York. The publication of this book was the first step on the road to Romanticism. Later Knickerbocker became a by-name for restaurants, omnibuses, manufactured goods & newspapers.

18. This name was adopted for the first American school of writers, the “Knickerbocker Group”, with Irving as a leader.

19. The 1st period of writing was humorous & satirical.
“A History of New York by Diedrich Knickerbocker”.

20. The grief over a sudden death of Matilda Hoffman in April 1809 traumatized him.

21. In 1815, after his mother’s death, Irving went to Liverpool to attend to the interests of his brothers’ hardware firm.

22. It was during the European period of his life that Irving wrote books which brought him international acclaim. They were romances & essays.

23. The 2nd period. The European period of his life includes essays & romances:
“Tales of a traveller”
“The Devil & Tom Walker”
“Rip Van Winkle”

24. With the help of Walter Scott he published the first collection of his writings
“The Sketch Book” in 1819.
“Bracebridge Hall” in 1822.
“Tales of a traveller” in 1824.
“Rip Van Winkle” ends this collection & it
is considered to be the first American short story .

25. “RIP VAN WINKLE”
The title character goes to sleep after a game of bowling & much drinking in the mountains with a band of dwarves. He awakes 20 years later, an old man.

26. Back home, Rip finds that the world he knew has completely changed: his wife is dead, his daughter is married, & the American Revolution has taken place.

27. The Statue of Rip Van Winkle

28. The Legend of a Sleepy Hollow
Its central character, Ichabod Crane, is a vain & cowardly teacher & the rival in love of Brom Bones. Bones terrorizes Crane by disguising himself as a legendary headless horseman.

29. “The Devil & Tom Walker”
It’s a story from the book “Tales of a traveller”. It’s based on an old German legend about a man who has sold his soul to the devil. Other writers had used it in their works, among them the great German poet & writer Goethe, who used this legend for his “Faust”.

30. In 1826, he accepted an invitation to join the American diplomatic mission in Spain.

31. Irving’s other works of his European period were written in Spain
Irving’s other works of his European period were written in Spain. He wrote “Columbus”, the conquest of Canada.
These works were notable achievements as popular history written in fine prose.

32. THE
3rd
PERIOD OF WRITING

33. After 17 years abroad, Irving returned to America with a desire to portray his country.

34. In “A Tour of the Prairies” he shows sympathy for the Indians.

35. ,
Irving made his home at “Sunnyside”, a place in his beloved valley of the Hudson River, in his declining years wrote a biography of Oliver Goldsmith & “Life of George Washington”.

36. “A Biography of Oliver Goldsmith” “The Life of George Washington”
“A Tour of the Prairies”
“A Biography of Oliver Goldsmith”
“The Life of George Washington”

37. He died in 1859.

38. F.Cooper
H.Longfellow
He introduced Romanticism as a literary trend in America pointing out the way for Cooper & later Longfellow.

39. Both home & abroad Washington Irving is considered the truly American whose stories entered school & university curricula during his lifetime.

40. Irving entered American literature mostly for his splendid short plots
Irving entered American literature mostly for his splendid short plots. The imagined presence of an audience outlines the spirit & imagery of the story.

41. He was famous for his quotations.
A sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.
Little minds are tamed & subdued by misfortunate; but great minds rise above it.

42. W. Thackeray called Irving the first literary envoy from the New World into the Old Europe.

43. His best known & first American short stories The legend of a Sleeping Hollow & Rap Van Winkle are still among the favourite classics.