Washington Irving was one of the first Americans to achieve international recognition as an author. He was born in New York City in 1783. His A History of New York, published in 1809 under the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker, was a satirical history of New York that spanned the years from 1609 to 1664.
Irving also wrote under the pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon, and his observations of the British gentry of Bracebridge Hall are delightful. He wrote The Keeping of Christmas at Bracebridge Hall. The Sketch Book (1819-20) included essays about English folk customs, essays about the American Indian, and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle." Bracebridge Hall was published in 1822 as a sequel to his immensely popular Sketch Book.
Irving served as a member of the U.S. legation in Spain from 1826 to 1829 and as minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846. Following his return to the U.S. in 1846, he began work on a five-volume biography of Washington that was published from 1855-1859. Washington Irving died in 1859 in New York.
Irving saw foreign lands with the eyes of an astute onlooker. His romantic sketches of Spain are credited with a dramatic increase in tourism in that country.
Joseph Berger wrote: "Irving’s literary stock has fallen as charming 19th-century authors get bled out of the canon, so few Americans — this one included — remember that Irving was one of his age’s champion travelers, making three Atlantic crossings, one that lasted 17 years, and spending eight years in Spain, including three months inside the Alhambra Palace."
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