Washington Irving

Astoria is a history book published in 1836 by Washington Irving. The full title being "Astoria: Or, Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains". The book was commissioned by John Jacob Astor as an official history of his company's expedition to Oregon in 1810-1812. The book became a bestseller in 1836 and at the time was required reading in some schools. Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 - November 28, 1859) was an American short story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820), both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of George Washington, Oliver Goldsmith, and Muhammad, and several histories of 15th-century Spain dealing with subjects such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors and the Alhambra. Irving served as the U. S. ambassador to Spain from 1842 to 1846. He made his literary debut in 1802 with a series of observational letters to the Morning Chronicle, written under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle. After moving to England for the family business in 1815, he achieved international fame with the publication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. in 1819-20. He continued to publish regularly-and almost always successfully-throughout his life, and just eight months before his death (at age 76, in Tarrytown, New York), completed a five-volume biography of George Washington. Irving, along with James Fenimore Cooper, was among the first American writers to earn acclaim in Europe, and Irving encouraged American authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Edgar Allan Poe. Irving was also admired by some European writers, including Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Thomas Campbell, Francis Jeffrey, and Charles Dickens. As America's first genuine internationally best-selling author, Irving advocated for writing as a legitimate profession and argued for stronger laws to protect American writers from copyright infringement.

Knickerbocker's History of New York is a satire on self-important local history and contemporary politics. Prior to its publication, Irving started a hoax akin to today's viral marketing campaigns; he placed a series of missing person adverts in New York newspapers seeking information on Diedrich Knickerbocker, a crusty Dutch historian who had allegedly gone missing from his hotel in New York City.

Along with Irving's companion piece "Rip Van Winkle", "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is among the earliest examples of American fiction with enduring popularity, especially during Halloween. The story is set in 1790 in the countryside around the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town - historical Tarrytown, New York -, in a secluded glen called Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow is renowned for its ghosts and the haunting atmosphere that pervades the imaginations of its inhabitants

The quiet Dutch community of Sleepy Hollow lay in the Adirondack mountains on the western shore of the mighty Hudson River in America

Washington Irvings klassiska reseskildring från Granada och hans sagor från det moriska Spanien, för första gången på modern svenska i översättning av Ulla Ericson. Berättelser från Alhambra översattes till svenska av Carl Netherwood så tidigt som 1833, bara ett år efter originalutgåvans engelska publicering, och utgavs senare igen i en "ny" översättning av O V Ålund, 1881. Boken blev en av de första stora ”bestsellers” under 1800-talet och gjorde Alhambrapalatset i Granada till ett av tidernas främsta turistmål. Denna nyöversättning inkluderar ett upplysande efterord av Kerstin Eksell, professor i semitisk filologi vid Köpenhamns universitet. "Eftersom vår tillämnade rutt till Granada löpte genom bergstrakter där vägarna är föga bättre än åsnestigar och sägs ofta anfallas av rövare, vidtog vi vederbörliga försiktighetsåtgärder inför resan. Vi skickade den värdefullaste delen av vårt bagage ett par dagar i förväg med åkarna och behöll endast kläder och nödvändighetsartiklar för resan, samt kontanter för våra utgifter, jämte lite extra dollar som rövarpengar för att göra vägens herrar nöjda ifall vi skulle bli angripna. Ve den alltför sparsamme resenären som har underlåtit denna försiktighetsåtgärd och faller i deras klor tomhänt. De kommer säkert att ge honom en kraftig minnesbeta för att han lurat dem på vad som tillkom dem." Washington Irving (1832)

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a short story of speculative fiction by American author Washington Irving, contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Written while Irving was living abroad in Birmingham, England, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" was first published in 1820. Along with Irving's companion piece "Rip Van Winkle", "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is among the earliest examples of American fiction with enduring popularity, especially during Halloween because of a character known as the headless horseman believed to be a hessian soldier who lost his head to a cannonball in battle.