A hundred years have gone since the birth of this genial writer, to whom we owe so great a debt. The Irving centenary will occur on April 3, and this number ofThe Chautauquanaffords a most fitting place for Prof. Bruce’s eloquent lecture upon his writings. We would also make room here for a résumé of his life and work.
The life of this favorite author is comprised between the dates April 3, 1783, and November 28, 1859. He lived reasonably long, and his years were eminently fruitful. His birth-place was New York city, and he died at his “Sunnyside” place, famous and beloved, on the Hudson. His parents were English, which may partly account for the warm side he ever had for the English people. He was the youngest of several children. His early educational advantages were good, and well improved. At the age of sixteen he entered upon the study of law. The bent of his mind, however, was toward literature. As early as 1802 he wrotefor the press, and among other effusions a series of articles in theMorning Chronicle, signed “Jonathan Oldstyle,” came from his pen. In 1804 he was threatened with consumption, and visited Europe in pursuit of health. At Rome he made the acquaintance of the great painter, Washington Allston, with whom he set out to study for an artist. The new passion, however, was short-lived. A trial of three days satisfied him that he was not born to wield the brush. On his return from his European trip he was admitted to the bar, but instead of seeking law-practice he devoted his time to literary work. The first of his published works which was important was the serial “Salmagundi”—the joint production of his brother William, James K. Paulding, and himself—the first number of which was issued in January, 1807. This humorous work, abounding in clever hits at persons and things, was very successful, and was received with favor on the other side of the Atlantic as well as at home. The exquisite “Knickerbocker’s History of New York” soon followed, a burlesque which was taken for veritable history by some rather dull readers, and gave offense to certain descendants of the old Dutch families. Irving’s brother Peter had some hand, though quite a subordinate part, in the construction of this work. After the publication of “Knickerbocker,” nothing of much importance came from his pen for a number of years. After his father’s death, two of Irving’s brothers succeeded to his important mercantile business, and he himself became a sleeping partner in the firm. In 1815 he again visited Europe. He became a resident of London. There he found himself favorably known by his works, and became intimate with many of the literary men of the day. The time came when his firm became bankrupt, and he was obliged to take hold of literary work in earnest for a livelihood. In 1820 “Geoffrey Crayon’s Sketch-Book” was published in London, at the time it was also appearing in America. “Bracebridge Hall” and “Tales of a Traveler” afterward appeared at intervals of two years. In 1824 he was prepared to gratify a desire for travel, and he proceeded to make a protracted tour of the continent. This finished, he took up his residence in Spain, where he collected materials for his “Life of Columbus,” “The Conquest of Granada,” and “The Alhambra,” which works were published in the order named. In 1829 he returned to London, and the second year following he received from the University of Oxford the degree of LL.D. After an absence of seventeen years, he returned to his native land in 1832. In this time he had become a bright star in the world’s literary firmament. His countrymen, proud of his great fame, extended to him a royal welcome. He built “Sunnyside,” near Tarrytown, N. Y., where he loved to entertain his literary and other friends, and here he passed the remaining years of his life. His pen continued busy. The other works he gave to the world are “Astoria,” “Captain Bonneville,” “Life of Goldsmith,” “Mahomet and his Successors,” and “The Life of Washington.” The last work he had just time to finish before sudden death commanded his pen to perpetual silence.
Irving was the first American author to be known and admired in Europe. He has remained in England the favorite among our writers. His extended fame is well merited, and now that nearly a quarter-century has gone since his death, it does not seem to wane. His writings are to be admired for their classic English, their beauty of style, their sweet and genial spirit, their sparkling humor, their pure and noble thoughts. While he lived six hundred thousand volumes of his works were sold in our land alone, and since his death their sale has averaged more than thirty thousand volumes yearly. And such a token of appreciation is no more than his due. In his personal character he was one of the most estimable of men. His life was without reproach. He lived and died in the Christian faith. He was a man of large hospitality, and the most winning courtesy. His affections were strong and his nature generous. He never married. A young lady, to whom in his youth he was attached, was removed by death, and his heart was never given to another. Well does the “Easy Chair” ofHarpercall for the erection of an Irving statue in Central Park. And it is most fitting for the lovers of his writings, who are uncounted thousands, to pay some observance to the centenary of this author, through whom it first became known to the trans-Atlantic world that in America was the power to produce a literature.