Washington Irving

Old Christmas Washington Irving

Publisher Marketing: There is nothing in England that exercises a more delightful spell over my imagination than the lingerings of the holiday customs and rural games of former times. They recall the pictures my fancy used to draw in the May morning of life, when as yet I only knew the world through books, and believed it to be all that poets had painted it; and they bring with them the flavour of those honest days of yore, in which, perhaps with equal fallacy, I am apt to think the world was more home-bred, social, and joyous than at present. I regret to say that they are daily growing more and more faint, being gradually worn away by time, but still more obliterated by modern fashion. They resemble those picturesque morsels of Gothic architecture which we see crumbling in various parts of the country, partly dilapidated by the waste of ages, and partly lost in the additions and alterations of latter days. Poetry, however, clings with cherishing fondness about the rural game and holiday revel, from which it has derived so many of its themes, -as the ivy winds its rich foliage about the Gothic arch and mouldering tower, gratefully repaying their support by clasping together their tottering remains, and, as it were, embalming them in verdure Review Citations: Library Journal 04/15/1997 pg. 125 (EAN 9780939218158, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Irving, Washington One of the first American writers to gain acclaim in Europe, Washington Irving was also an essayist, a biographer, an historian, and a diplomat. He is best known for having written the short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle," both of which appeared in the collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Though he is best known for his short stories, Irving's written works include social and political commentary for the literary magazine Salmagundi, which he helped found, as well as biographies of a number of historical figures including George Washington and the prophet Muhammad. Irving died in 1859 at the age of 76.