Irving, Washington
Irving, Washington ( 1783 – 1859 ),born in New York, the son of a wealthy British merchant who had sided with the rebels in the Revolution. After training as a lawyer, Irving turned to a literary career, writing for various newspapers, and publishing ( 1807 – 8 ), with his brother William Irving and friend J. K. Paulding , a series of whimsical and satirical essays and poems, collected in book form as Salmagundi: or, The Whim-Whams and Opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, Esq. and Others ( 1808 ). This was followed by his highly successful burlesque A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by ‘Diedrich Knickerbocker’ a pseudonym chosen to represent the solid, phlegmatic Dutch burgher created by Irving; the name became synonymous with the descendants of the original Dutch settlers of the New Netherlands in America. Over the next years Irving struggled...
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