Washington Irving's Writtings

In the 1900’s Washington Irving, an American author, was famous for his biographies, short story, and fictional pieces. Washing Irving was born on April 3, 1783, in Manhattan, New York. He began writing in 1807. In 1815, he reached international fame when he published The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. After that he continued to write and publish books that were most of all successful. During his career he worked on a five-volume biography of George Washington called Life of George Washington. Washington Irving wrote books with ironic horror like in his book The Devil and Tom Walker while his book The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was written with a sarcastic horror. Washington Irving had many different styles of writing: biographies, short story, and fictional pieces.

The five-volume biography of George Washington is a very historical piece. Washington Irving wrote Life of George Washington during his last years and to this day it remains the most personal piece he ever wrote. This biography isn’t just a subject on the American Revolution and Washington but reveals the detail and personality of the first president of the United States. Irving wrote about a young colonial commander from Virginia, who went from commander-in-chief of the patriot army to the first president. Washington Irving had difficulties in his life during the period he was working to finish what he thought was his “masterpiece (Irving, The Life of George Washington).“

The story The Devil and Tom Walker Washing Irving published in 1824. It was part of his collection of short stories called Tales of a Traveller. The story is about a man named Tom, his wife and the Old Scratch. Tom and his wife are poor and Tom wishes to be rich someday. While walking home one...

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...the headless horseman. Irving’s writings usually have a moral to them, like in The Devil and Tom Walker. Greed and corruption will come back to haunt you. Personally I enjoy Irving’s stories, and think he was a great a historical author. Washington Irving’s last book he published was The Life of George Washington, which he thought was his “masterpiece (Irving, The Life of George Washington).” Washington Irving was famous for his biographies, short story, and fictional pieces. He later died on November 11, 1859 at age seventy-six in Tarrytown, New York.

Works Cited

Irving, Washington. The Devil and Tom Walker. New York: McGraw Hill, 2002. Print.

---. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Vol. 10. New York City: P.F. Collier & Son, 1917. 20 vols. Print.

---. The Life of George Washington. Vol. 1. New York City: New York, London, G.P. Putnams's sons, 1856. 5 vols. Print.