Washington Irving was born on April 3, 1783. He was a biographer, historian, and an American author. In class, we read his short stories, "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both somewhat mystical stories. Only knowing that much about Washington Irving's writings, I wondered "Did Washington Irving have more accomplishments and adventures?"
Washington Irving's mother named him after George Washington, because George Washington was the "hero of the American Revolution", which ended the same week Irving was born. Irving's older brothers were mostly New York merchants, but he was very uninterested as a student and wanted to pursue writing. His family supported his ambition, and sometimes helped to financially support him during the early times of his writing career. In 1802, Irving submitted commentaries on the social and theater scene to the New York Morning Chronicle. These commentaries were submitted under the name of Jonathan Oldstyle, a pen name used by Irving. They were his first notoriety.
http://www.biography.com/people/washington-irving-9350087
Irving toured Europe from 1804 to 1806, and learned about their social tastes while being a "social butterfly" for the first year. In 1805, Irving befriended an American painter and almost decided to become a painter himself. He returned to America and began Law school, where he was an unfocused and uninterested student. Even though law wasn't his forte, he scraped by and passed the Bar. Irving created a magazine in 1807, where he, a friend and his brother, wrote about New York politics and culture. Irving's first major book was completed in 1809, while he was mourning the loss of his fiance, Matilda Hoffman. His second book was published in 1809, after a hoax Irving started made him quite a celebrity. He scored the job as editor of Analectic, a magazine. There, he wrote many biographies. After the British attack on Washington, D.C., Irving enlisted in the Army, but wasn't on the front lines. He went to Europe to try and heal the family trading company, and lived in Europe for seventeen years. The family firm was forced to declare bankruptcy, so Irving continued to write. Europe was interesting to him, and he wanted to stay. He was inspired to write "Rip Van Winkle" while in Europe. Irving sent a set of essays to America, which contained "Rip Van Winkle" and "Legend of Sleepy Hollow", but all other essays were very successful. His next book was completed very slowly, as he was mourning the loss of his brother, William. After his next collection of essays bombed with the critics, Irving retreated to Paris and laid low the next year. in 1826, he travelled to Madrid to be with the American Minister to Spain, where he published The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. Irving wrote quite a few books in Madrid, then travelled to England.
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/wirving.htm
Below is a link to a video that gives a humorous way to learn about Washington Irving! :)
Washington Irving became the Secretary to the American Legation in London, and worked to make a trade agreement between British West Indes and the US. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Civil Law in 1831. Irving arrived back in New York in 1832. He wrote a book describing the events he lived while touring the world. He bought a cottage and wrote many more books that were published, and endorsed many young writers. Irving was appointed Minister to Spain in 1842, and thought he would still have free time to write. Spain was in an uproar, and he was unable to publish during that time. After his return from Spain, he wrote regularly, writing more biographies and essays. Washington Irving died in 1859 at his Sunnyside home at the age of 76.
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ho-Jo/Irving-Washington.html
