Old Christmas: From the Sketch Book of Washington Irving by Washington Irving Illustrated

ISBN-10: 1712506323
ISBN-13: 9781712506325
Series: Old Christmas
Pages: 56
Language: English
Published: 2019-11-27
Author: Washington Irving

Description

About Author: 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 is best known for his 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 Alhambra, Christopher Columbus and the Moors.Irving served as ambassador to Spain from 1842 to 1846. He made his literary debut in 1802 with a series of observational letters to the Morning Chronicle, written under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle. He 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 1819-20. 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, 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. Source: Wikipedia Product Description: "Old Christmas" is a collection of five Christmas "sketches" by Washington Irving from his famous Sketch Book. It describes Irving's experiences at the English country estate of Mr. Bracebridge during the "coaching days" of the early 19th century, focusing on the sights, sounds, smells and traditions of "Old" Christmas. In spirit it hearkens back to the Middle Ages -- before the "peasants" had learned to read newspapers or were talking politics at the local pub, when manner lords opened their halls for the local folk to feast in a show of gratitude, under the watchful stare of painted ancient family crusaders and armored statues. This wonderful account has a tangible sense of realism mixed with romanticism and the comforts of traditio