The Oxford Companion to American Literature | Irving, Washington
Irving, Washington( 1783–1859), was born in New York City, the youngest of 11 children of a wealthy merchant who had sided with the rebels in the Revolution. Precocious and impressionable, the boy was early influenced by the literary interests of his brothers William and Peter, but in 1798 concluded his education at private schools and entered a law office. His legal studies soon lost their appeal, although he continued in various offices until 1804, varying his occupation by a frontier journey (1803) through upper New York state and into Canada, and by writing for the Morning Chronicle and The Corrector, newspapers edited by his brother Peter. For the Chronicle (1802–3) he wrote the Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent., a series of youthful satires on New York society, which won him recognition. To restore his failing health and to further his education, he traveled in Europe (1804–6), where he collected...
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