WASHINGTON IRVING was born in New York, April 3, 1783, and died of
heart disease, at Sunnyside, his country-seat on the banks of the Hudson, on
November 28, 1859.
Both his parents came from Great Britain. His father had intended
Washington for the legal profession, but sickness interfered with his studies,
and caused him to take a voyage to Europe, proceeding as far as Rome.
Returning to the United States, he was admitted to the bar; but preferring
literature, he gave but little attention to the practice of law.
His first literary effort appeared in the form of a satirical miscellany,
entitled "Salmagundi," published jointly with his brother, William Irving,
and J. K. Paulding, in 1807-8. This publication gave ample proof of Irving's
talent as a humorist, and prepared the public mind for a favorable reception
of his next effort. "The Knickerbocker History of New York," published in
1809, greatly added to Irving's popularity. "Though far from the most
finished of Irving's productions, Knickerbocker manifests the most original
power, and is the most genuinely national in its quaintness and drollery.
The very hardiness and prolixity of the story are skillfully made to heighten
humorous effect."
Upon his father's death Irving became a silent partner in his brother's
commercial house, a branch of which was established at Liverpool. The
firm struggled with fate for some time, then became bankrupt. Fortunately
for American literature, his business failure compelled him to resume his
pen as a means of support. His reputation had preceded him to England,
and the curiosity naturally excited by the then unwonted apparition of a successful American author, procured him admission into the highest literary circles, where his popularity was insured by his amiable temper and polished manners. Campbell, Jeffrey, Moore, Scott, were counted among his friends, and the last named zealously recommended him to the publisher, Murray, who, after at first refusing, consented in 1820 to bring out "Geoffrey Crayon's Sketch Book," which was already appearing in America in a periodical form. Some stories and sketches on American themes, contribute to give it variety; of these "Rip Van Winkle" is the most remarkable. It speedily obtained great success on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1822 appeared "Bracebridge Hall," an excellent work upon a purely English subject, hence the humor is more English than American. "Tales of a Traveler" came from his pen in 1824, and Irving started for a tour on the continent. His literary work had already brought him an ample fortune, and his continued income furnished means for him to travel and enlarge the sphere of his observations. After a long course of travel he settled down at Madrid, in the house of the American consul Rich. His intention at the time was to translate Navarrete's recently published work on Columbus; finding, however, that this was rather a collection of valuable materials than a systematic biography, he determined to compose a biography of his own by its assistance, supplemented by independent researches in the Spanish archives. His work appeared in 1828 and obtained a merited success. It is a finished representation of Columbus from the point of view of the Nineteenth century. Continuing in Spain in connection with the United States embassy, he gathered the material for his excellent works, "The Companions of Columbus," "The Conquest of Grenada," and "The Alhambra."
Having been appointed secretary to the embassy at London, Irving proceeded to England to enter upon his duties. About the same time Oxford University conferred upon him the legal degree as a compliment to his literary ability. In 1832 he returned to the United States, after seventeen years' absence, and "found his name a household word, and himself universally honored as the first American who had won for his country a recognition on equal terms in the literary republic."
He next undertook a tour in the Western prairies, and returning to the neighborhood of New York, built for himself a delightful retreat on the Hudson, to which he gave the name of "Sunnyside." His acquaintance with the New York millionaire, John Jacob Astor, prompted his next important work, "Astor," a history of the fur-trading settlement founded by Astor in Oregon, deduced with singular literary ability from the dry commercial records, and, without labored attempts at word-painting, evincing a remarkable faculty for bringing scenes and incidents vividly before the eye. "Captain Bonneville," based upon the unpublished memoirs of a veteran hunter, was another work of the same class. He also wrote "A Tour on the Prairies," and "Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey."
In 1842 Irving was appointed United States ambassador to Spain. Repairing to that country, he spent the four years in attending to the duties of his office. His pen seems to have been idle until after his return to the States. Upon reading Forster's "Life of Goldsmith" Irving was reminded that his own essay on his favorite author was not good enough to leave as a part of his collected writings. Thus stimulated, he wrote an excellent "Life of Oliver Goldsmith." Two years later he published "The Lives of Mahomet and his Successors." His last work was a biography of Washington, and he just lived to complete the work.
"He was far more of the poet than any of the writers of the eighteenth century, and his moralizing, unlike theirs, is unconscious and indirect. The same poetic feeling is shown in his biographies; his subject is invariably chosen for its picturesqueness, and whatever is unessential to portraiture is thrown into the background. The result is that his biographies, however deficient in research, bear the stamp of genuine artistic intelligence, equally remote from compilation and disquisition. In execution they are almost faultless; the narrative is easy, the style pellucid, and the writer's judgment nearly always in accordance with the general verdict of history. They will not, therefore, be easily superseded, and indeed. Irving's productions are in general impressed with that signet's classical finish which guarantees the permanency of literary work more surely than direct utility or intellectual power. This refinement is the more amiable for being in great part the reflection of his own moral nature. Without ostentation or affectation he was exquisite in all things, a mirror of loyalty, courtesy, and good taste in all his literary connections, and exemplary in all the relations of domestic life which he was called upon to assume. He never married, remaining true to the memory of an early attachment which was blighted by death."
As an illustration of the popularity of his writings abroad we call attention to the fact that Irving received about twenty-five thousand dollars for the copyright of four of his works in England.
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