Washington Irving (1783-1859)
Biography
Author Washington Irving was born in New York City on April 3, 1783.His parents
were Scottish and English.
Irving served as the United States ambassador to Spain and helped to promote
international copyright before his death.
Washington Irving was educated privately, studied law but never practiced this job, he
was irregular as student; he defended his land. He began to write essays for periodicals.
Irving was the first American man of letter preoccupied in literature itself .
He was a weak man, reason why he was sent to Europe, to find a cure. He visited in
France and Italy, Spain and England. He served as the US ambassador in London, the
US ambassador in Spain.
He got admired for Spain, while being in Spain he wrote “Life of Columbus” and “The
Alhambra”
He combined reality and fiction and also reality and sentimentalism.
There are 4 literary stages in his career (he does not mix them):
1. Knickerbocker History of New York (about his own city)
2. The Sketch Book (focused on the self), made him popular in US and Europe
3. The Alhambra(Writing of Spain)
4. Biographies, of himself and “Life of Goldsmith”.
The Knickerbocker School
-Knickerbocker Mansion: Irving believed that writer should be surrounded by Nature.
-Knickerbocker Club: Club formed in the US, as a response that England is not the only
literary center. The published magazines being women their main readers.
-Knickerbocker magazines: lasted for 30 years and this group of writers published
poems and texts and this magazine was the culmination of these writers.
Style
-As an influence of Romanticism they should be inspired in Nature, writings were more
sentimentalist than philosophical. Retirement in Nature was the idea they wanted to
show. - Survived writers contributed with an essay, tale or poem in the 25th anniversary
showing they were elegant writers. The volume has a conventional design.
Their intention was to become famous. Simple and pure literature.
