Washington Irving
Page 46
I have attempted no lofty theme, nor sought to look wise and learned, which appears to be very much the fashion among our American writers at present. I have preferred addressing myself to the feeling and fancy of the reader more than to his judgment. My writing, therefore, may appear light and trifling in our country of philosophers and politicians, but if they possess merit in the class of literature to which they belong, it is all to which I aspire in the work.77
Acknowledgments
I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to various colleagues, family, and friends who joined me on the six-year journey that resulted in the book you now hold in your hands. Having them with me made the trip that much more enjoyable.
Two of my most important companions have been Jonathan Lyons, literary agent extraordinaire, who believed in this project from the start and whose friendship and advice I value greatly, and Casey Ebro, my tireless and patient editor at Arcade. Her careful ear and skillful pencil were never short of astounding, and her enthusiasm and affection for all things Irving kept us upbeat and focused.
I am indebted to the staff at Historic Hudson Valley, particularly Kate Johnson and Anne Goslin, for their information and conversation, and to Dina Friedman at Sunnyside for providing an insider's look at Irving's home. I appreciate the patience of Sharon Brevoort, who allowed me to pepper her with questions about her ancestors. In London, Helen Trompeteler at the National Portrait Gallery was endlessly helpful. In Washington, D.C., I am thankful for the assistance of Heather Moore at the U.S. Senate Historical Office, Mary Edwards at the U.S. Department of Treasury, and the countless librarians at the Library of Congress.
No biography of Irving would be possible without the hard work of those scholars who have gone before, and I am indebted to the editors of Twayne's thirty-volume Complete Works of Washington Irving, a meticulously researched and notated effort that finally puts Irving's letters and papers in a uniform format. Locating these and other volumes required much scouring, and I am grateful for the help of countless small, independent used-book sellers in the United States and abroad.
On a personal level, it is not an exaggeration to say this book could not have been written without the indulgence and encouragement of my colleagues at my “day job,” Councilmember Mike Knapp, Joyce Fuhrmann, Josh Bokee, Daniela Moya, and Carmen Berrios. I am appreciative of the help and support of Richard and Jeannette Seaver, Miranda Ottewell, Jay, Elli, and Bremer Kaprosy, Tiffany Cooke, Tim Sullivan, Rod, Taylor, and Kimberly Barnes-O'Connor, Scott Phillips, Jim Eismeier, Jerry Crute, Doran Butuche, Michael Gaitan, and Laurie Locascio. I am grateful for the love and guidance of my parents, Larry Jones and Elaine and Wayne Miller, and my brother, Cris, whose instant messages were always worth responding to, even when I was swamped.
Most of all, I am eternally indebted to my wife, Barb—my first and best reader, editor, friend, and fan, whose level head and sense of humor kept us grounded even as things went crazy—and our daughter, Madison, who made it all seem so normal. You worked hard for this book, too, and I love you both.
Notes
In citing works in the notes, short titles are used. Works frequently cited are identified by the following abbreviations:
Journals I
Washington Irving. Journals and Notebooks, Volume I: 1803–1806. Edited by Nathalia Wright. Vol. 1 of The Complete Works of Washington Irving. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1969.
Journals II
Washington Irving. Journals and Notebooks, Volume II: 1807–1822. Edited by Walter A. Reichart and Lillian Schlissel. Vol. 2 of The Complete Works of Washington Irving. Boston: Twayne, 1981.
Journals III
Washington Irving. Journals and Notebooks, Volume III: 1819–1827. Edited by Walter A. Reichart. Vol. 3 of The Complete Works of Washington Irving. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1970.
Journals IV
Washington Irving. Journals and Notebooks, Volume IV: 1826–1829. Edited by Wayne R. Kime and Andrew B. Myers. Vol. 4 of The Complete Works of Washington Irving. Boston: Twayne, 1984.
Journals V
Washington Irving. Journals and Notebooks, Volume V: 1826–1829. Edited by Sue Fields Ross. Vol. 5 of The Complete Works of Washington Irving. Boston: Twayne, 1986.
LBI
George S. Hellman, ed. Letters of Henry Brevoort to Washington Irving. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1918.
Letters I
Washington Irving. Letters, Volume I: 1802–1823. Edited by Ralph M. Aderman, Herbert L. Kleinfield, and Jenifer S. Banks. Vol. 23 of The Complete Works of Washington Irving. Boston: Twayne, 1978.
Letters II
Washington Irving. Letters, Volume II: 1823–1838. Edited by Ralph M. Aderman, Herbert L. Kleinfield, and Jenifer S. Banks. Vol. 24 of The Complete Works of Washington Irving. Boston: Twayne, 1979.
Letters III
Washington Irving. Letters, Volume III: 1839–1845. Edited by Ralph M. Aderman, Herbert L. Kleinfield, and Jenifer S. Banks. Vol. 25 of The Complete Works of Washington Irving. Boston: Twayne, 1982.
Letters IV
Washington Irving. Letters, Volume IV: 1846–1859. Edited by Ralph M. Aderman, Herbert L. Kleinfield, and Jenifer S. Banks. Vol. 26 of The Complete Works of Washington Irving. Boston: Twayne, 1978.
PMI
Pierre M. Irving. Life and Letters of Washington Irving. 4 vols. New York: G. P. Putnam, 1862.
STW
Stanley T. Williams. The Life of Washington Irving. 2 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1935.
All conversions from nineteenth-century dollars and English pounds to current American dollars are made using the very helpful online device:
Samuel H. Williamson, “Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1790–2005,” MeasuringWorth.com, 2006.
CHAPTER 1: GOTHAM
1. PMI, 1:15; STW, 2:246–49.
2. PMI, 1:26.
3. Irving to Henry Panton, Sunnyside, 15 February 1850, Letters IV, 204.
4. PMI, 1:23.
5. STW, 1:5; Irving to Emily Foster, Paris, 23 August 1825, Letters II, 129.
6. PMI, 1:25.
7. Burrows, 296.
8. PMI, 1:27.
9. Burrows, 305.
10. PMI, 1:28.
11. STW, 1:11; PMI, 1:29.
12. Irving to Philip J. Forbes, Sunnyside, 25 October 1852, Letters IV, 333–34; PMI, 1:33; Hellman, 14; STW, 1:20.
13. Hellman, 17–18.
14. Irving, “The Author's Account of Himself,” in The Sketch Book, 8.
15. Tour in Scotland 1817, Journals II, 119.
16. Paulding, 29.
17. Ibid., 26, 29.
18. Ibid., 26–27.
19. Warner, 27; PMI, 1:36.
20. Tour in Scotland, Journals II, 119.
21. Burrows, 357–58.
22. Brooks, 165–66; Irving, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” Sketch Book, 274.
23. Brooks, 165; “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” 273.
24. STW, 1:14.
25. Irving to Mrs. Amelia Foster, [April–May 1823], Letters I, 738.
26. Burrows, 333.
27. Tour in Scotland, Journals II, 118.
28. See Irving, Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, xxi–xxii.
29. PMI, 1:37.
30. Ibid., 39.
31. Ibid., 42–43.
32. Ibid.
33. STW, 1:26. Also STW, 1:386n22.
34. See Letters I, n16.
35. PMI, 1:45.
36. Irving to Mr. and Mrs. William Irving Sr., Johnstown, 2 July 1802, Letters I, 3.
37. PMI, 1:46–47.
38. Burrows, 328.
39. Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, 39; STW, 1:388n66.
40. Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, 3–7.
41. Hedges, 17–19.
42. Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, 8.
43. Ibid., 12.
44. Ibid., 18.
45. “Historical Note,” Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, 40; PMI, 1:47.
46. See S
TW, 1:40; Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, 20, 22–26. See also explanatory note 27.1, Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, 47.
47. Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, 30–31.
48. Ibid., 34.
49. PMI, 1:48.
50. New York Journal, 1803, Journals I, 9.
51. Irving, Astoria, 3.
52. Irving, Miscellaneous Writings I, xx.
53. “Textual Commentary, [Contributions to The Corrector],” in ibid., 282.
54. “[Contributions to The Corrector],” in ibid., 8.
55. STW, 1:41.
CHAPTER 2: TRAVELER
1. PMI, 1:62.
2. Ibid.
3. Irving to Alexander Beebee, Bordeaux, 22 July 1805, Letters I, 38; Irving to William Irving Jr., Ship Rising States, Mouth of Gironne, at Quarantine, 26 June 1804, Letters I, 7–10.
4. Irving to Elias Hicks, 24 July 1804, Letters I, 41; Irving to John Furman, Genoa, 24 October 1804, Letters I, 111.
5. Irving to Beebee, Nice, 19 September 1804, Letters I, 80.
6. Irving to Andrew Quoz?, Bordeaux, 20 July 1804, Letters I, 34–35.
7. Irving to Beebee, Bordeaux, 22 July 1804, Letters I, 40; Irving to William Irving Jr., Bordeaux, 1 August 1804, Letters I, 44.
8. European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 72; Traveling Notes, 1804, Journals I, 46; PMI, 1:75.
9. Irving to William Irving Jr., Bordeaux, 1 August 1804, Letters I, 44; Irving to William Irving Jr., Montpellier, 14 August 1804, Letters I, 54; European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 65.
10. Irving to William Irving Jr., Montpellier, 14 August 1804; Letters I, 58, 66.
11. Irving to William Irving Jr., Marseilles, 27 August 1804; Letters I, 70–71
12. European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 80–83.
13. Irving to Peter Irving, [Marseilles, 5 September 1804], Letters I, 73–74; European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 43; Irving to Quoz?, Bordeaux, 20 July 1804, Letters I, 33.
14. Irving to William Irving Jr., Nice, 20 September 1804, Letters I, 90.
15. Traveling Notes, 1804, Journals I, 480; Irving to William Irving Jr., Nice, 20 September 1804, Letters I, 93.
16. European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 78.
17. Traveling Notes, 1804, Journals I, 485.
18. Irving to William Irving Jr., Nice, 20 September 1804, Letters I, 93.
19. Irving to John Furman, Genoa, 24 October 1804, Letters I, 113; Irving to Beebee, Nice, 27 October 1804, Letters I, 86; European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 120.
20. Irving to William Irving Jr., Nice, 20 September 1804, Letters I, 106.
21. Irving to William Irving Jr., Genoa, 20 December 1804, Letters I, 123.
22. Irving to William Irving Jr., Genoa, 30 November 1804, Letters I, 119.
23. Ibid., 120.
24. Irving to William Irving Jr., Ship Matilda, 25 December 1804 [through January 1805], Letters I, 142.
25. Ibid., 145–46.
26. European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 150.
27. European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 152; Irving to William Irving Jr., Ship Matilda, 25 December 1804 [through January 1805], Letters I, 148.
28. Irving to William Irving Jr., Ship Matilda, 25 December 1804 [through January 1805], Letters I, 154; European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 162.
29. Traveling Notes, 1804–1805, Journals I, 523; European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 179–80, 188–90.
30. European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 203.
31. European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 195; Irving to William Irving Jr., Rome, 4 April 1805, Letters I, 173–74.
32. Journals I, 228n197; Irving to Elias Hicks, 4 May 1805, Intra. Lago Maggiore, Letters I, 182.
33. See European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 238–43.
34. Ibid., 262.
35. Irving, “Memoir of Washington Allston,” in Miscellaneous Writings II, 173.
36. Ibid., 173–74.
37. European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 271; “Memoir of Washington Allston,” 174.
38. “Memoir of Washington Allston,” 175.
39. Ibid.
40. European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 276. Likely a paraphrasing of Moore; Irving to William Irving Jr., Rome, 4 April 1805, Letters I, 175.
41. Ibid., 175, 176.
42. PMI, 1:139–40. Emphasis in original.
43. Ibid; European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 284.
44. European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 313.
45. Ibid., 328.
46. Ibid., 337–40.
47. Ibid., 344.
48. Irving, “Verses Written on the Lake of Lucerne,” in Miscellaneous Writings I, 149.
49. European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 393–96.
50. Ibid., 405.
51. See European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 407–17; Irving to William Irving Jr., Paris, 31 May 1805, Letters I, 189.
52. European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 419.
53. Irving to Elias Hicks, Intra. Lago Maggiore, 4 May 1805, Letters I, 186–87.
54. Irving to William Irving Jr., Paris, 31 May 1805, Letters I, 190.
55. PMI, 1:151.
56. Irving to William Irving Jr., Paris, 31 May 1805, Letters I, 192; European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 426–27; Irving to Peter Irving, Paris, 15 July 1805, Letters I, 196. Emphasis in original.
57. Irving to Beebee, Paris, 3 August 1805, Letters I, 203.
58. European Journal, 1804–1805, Journals I, 433.
59. Ibid., 445, 448–49.
60. Irving to Peter Irving, London, 20 October 1805, Letters I, 206.
61. Irving to William Irving Jr., London, 26 October 1805, Letters I, 208. Emphasis in original.
62. Irving to William Irving Jr., London, 26 October 1805, Letters I, 208; Irving to Peter Irving, London, 7 November 1805, Letters I, 215.
63. Irving to Furman, Genoa, 24 October 1804, Letters I, 112.
CHAPTER 3: SALMAGUNDI
1. Irving to Peter Irving, London, 7 November 1805, Letters I, 215.
2. STW, 1:77; Burrows, 379.
3. Burrows, 274, 416; STW, 1:74.
4. Burrows, 383–84; Homberger, 67.
5. Burrows, 374. Attributed to John Lambert.
6. PMI, 1:165.
7. Ibid., 168.
8. PMI, 1:165; Paulding, 37.
9. PMI, 1:166–67; Paulding, 37.
10. Irving to Gouverneur Kemble, New York, 24 May 1806, Letters I, 217–18.
11. Irving to Kemble, New York, 26 May 1806, Letters I, 219–20.
12. Ibid.
13. Mary E. Fenno to G. C. Verplanck, December 1810(?), STW, 1:91.
14. Irving to Mrs. Amelia Foster, [April–May 1823], Letters I, 739; PMI, 1:173. This story is also repeated by a number of Irving biographers. See STW, 1:77 and Hellman, 46.
15. Paulding, 426; Irving, “Historical Note,” in Salmagundi, 319; Paul-ding, 38.
16. Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th ed., s.v. “Salmagundi.”
17. Salmagundi, 67–68.
18. “Table 2, Subeditions and Variant States of 1A,” Salmagundi, 390–91; Salmagundi, 68.
19. PMI, 1:179; Paulding, 38.
20. Salmagundi, 72.
21. Salmagundi, 96. Emphasis in original.
22. Leary, 14.
23. Salmagundi, 152–57, 322. For Dennie's reaction, see PMI, 1:185.
24. Salmagundi, 68.
25. Irving to Josiah Ogden Hoffman, New York, 2 February 1807, Letters I, 223.
26. Irving to Andrew Quoz, Ship Matilda, 1 January 1805, Letters I, 169.
27. STW, 1:89.
28. Irving to Mary Fairlie, Philadelphia, 17 March 1807, Letters I, 224; Salmagundi, 126.
29. Adams, 82.
30. Irving to Fairlie, Philadelphia, 17 March 1807, Letters I, 227; PMI, 1:183.
31. Irving to Fairlie, New York, 2 May 1807, Letters I, 231–32.
32. Ibid.
33. Cited in PMI,
1:188.
34. Ibid.
35. Irving to Fairlie, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 13 May 1807, Letters I, 236.
36. Ibid., 234.
37. Adams, 579.
38. Ibid., 758.
39. Ibid., 794.
40. Ibid., 768.
41. Irving to Fairlie, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 13 May 1807, Letters I, 235; PMI, 4:301.
42. McFarland, 75; Letters I, 242n3.
43. McFarland, 78; PMI, 1:191.
44. Irving to Mrs. Josiah Ogden Hoffman, Richmond, 4 June 1807, Letters I, 238.
45. Ibid.
46. McFarland, 81.
47. Irving to James K. Paulding, Richmond, 22 June 1807, Letters I, 239–40.
48. Ibid.
49. Ibid., 239; McFarland, 82–83.
50. Irving to Paulding, Richmond, 22 June 1807, Letters I, 239.
51. Irving to an unknown correspondent, [Richmond, summer 1807], Letters I, 240; PMI, 1:196.
52. Irving to Kemble, Richmond, 1 July 1807, Letters I, 241.
53. Irving to [Fairlie?], Washington City, 7 July 1807, Letters I, 244; Irving to Kemble, Richmond, 1 July 1807, Letters I, 242.
54. Irving to [Fairlie?], Washington City, 7 July 1807, Letters I, 245; McFarland, 85.
55. Irving to [Fairlie?], Washington City, 7 July 1807, Letters I, 245.
56. Decision of Burr jury, http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/burr/Decision.htm.
57. Aderman, 33.
58. Salmagundi, 272–77. Emphasis in original.
59. Burrows, 417.
60. Irving to Ann Hoffman, New York, 17 November 1807, Letters I, 250–51. Emphasis in original.
61. STW, 1:86. Emphasis in original.
62. Irving to Hoffman, New York, 17 November 1807, Letters I, 252.
63. PMI, 1:210–11.
64. Paulding, 38–39.
CHAPTER 4: HOAX
1. PMI, 1:211; Irving, Salmagundi, 306.
2. Irving, “The Author's Apology,” in A History of New York, 3.
3. Peter Irving to Washington Irving, 30 April 1808, PMI, 1:214.