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Washington Irving

Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820), both of which appear in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and George Washington, as well as several histories of 15th-century Spain that deal with subjects such as the Alhambra, Christopher Columbus, and the Moors. Irving served as American ambassador to Spain in the 1840s.

Born and raised in Manhattan to a merchant family, Irving made his literary debut in 1802 with a series of observational letters to the Morning Chronicle, written under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle. He temporarily moved to England for the family business in 1815 where he achieved fame with the publication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., serialized from 1819 to 1820. He continued to publish regularly throughout his life, and he completed a five-volume biography of George Washington just eight months before his death at age 76 in Tarrytown, New York.

Irving was one of the first American writers to earn acclaim in Europe, and he encouraged other American authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Herman Melville and Edgar Allan Poe. He was also admired by some British writers, including Lord Byron, Thomas Campbell, Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley, Francis Jeffrey and Walter Scott. He advocated for writing as a legitimate profession and argued for stronger laws to protect American writers from copyright infringement.

Birth and Death Data: Born April 3, 1783 (New York City), Died November 28, 1859 (Tarrytown)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1945 - 1949

Roles Represented in DAHR: author

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Decca L 3914 10-in. 8/16/1945 Rip Van Winkle: Part 1 Walter Huston author  
Decca L 3915 10-in. 8/16/1945 Rip Van Winkle: Part 2 Walter Huston author  
Decca L 3916 10-in. 8/16/1945 Rip Van Winkle: Part 3 Walter Huston author  
Decca L 3917 10-in. 8/16/1945 Rip Van Winkle: Part 4 Walter Huston author  
Decca L 5052 6/23/1949 Ichabod (The legend of Sleepy Hollow): Part 1 Bing Crosby ; Ichabod author  
Decca L 5053 7/23/1949 Ichabod (The legend of Sleepy Hollow): Part 2 Bing Crosby ; Ichabod author  
Decca L 5054 7/23/1949 Ichabod (The legend of Sleepy Hollow): Part 3 Bing Crosby ; Ichabod author  
Decca L 5055 7/23/1949 Ichabod (The legend of Sleepy Hollow): Part 4 Bing Crosby ; Ichabod author  
Decca L 5056 7/23/1949 Ichabod (The legend of Sleepy Hollow): It's more fun than a picnic-1 Bing Crosby ; Ichabod author  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Irving, Washington," accessed November 10, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/322609.

Irving, Washington. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 10, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/322609.

"Irving, Washington." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 10 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/322609

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