The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow | Washington Irving
- NYC settled as New Amsterdam by the Dutch in mid-1600s
- Washington Irving said of NYC, “Happily for New Amsterdam…the very words of learning, education, taste and talents were unheard of; a bright genius was an animal unknown and a blue-stocking lady would have been regarded with as much wonder as a horned frog or a fiery dragon.”
- Until Irving, NYC had no professional writers – only writings were: 1. political pamphlets, 2. diaries, and 3. journals
- Dutch had been settling in Hudson River Valley of NY since early days of America
- Little white towns with apple orchards
- Dutch spoken in the towns at least as much as English
- Teems with legends of the Dutch
- In 1800, Irving at 17 visits HRV for first time
- Irving absorbs the local stories and they form the basis of his writings
- Son of Scottish merchant who had settled in NY before Revolution
- Law student, good-looking, humorous
- Spent two years in Europe before age 23 because of ill health
- Not too interested in law, but older brothers bankroll him
- In 1815, he goes to England, where his literary reputation precedes him (Coleridge, Byron, etc.)
- Lives in Europe for 17 years
- Here he writes his most famous stories, Rip van Winkle and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, published in 1820
- When he returns to NY in 1832, at age 50, was one of most famous men in America
- In 1835, he buys a farm in the Hudson Valley
- At the time of his death, he was recognized as first major American writer