Washington Irving was born on April 3rd 1783 in New York City by parents William Irving SR and Sarah Irving he was the youngest of 11 children. William Irving was well known as the man you created short stories also for the many books he has written such as “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, “The sketch book of Geoffrey Crayon”, “Gent Tales of the Alhambra”, “Tales of a Traveler”, “Brace Bridge Hall”, “A tour on the Prairies”, “The life and voyages of Christopher Columbus”, “The history of New York”, “Letters of Jonathon old style”, “Salmagundi”, “George Washington”, “Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus”, “The Complete tales of Washington Irving”, “Rip Van Winkle”, and “Three Western Narratives history, tales, and sketches”.

Washington Irving was named after George Washington and he attended the first presidential inauguration of his namesake in 1789. He went to a private school and studied law and began to write essays for periodicals. He worked in it in various offices until 1804. He also wrote articles for The Morning Chronicle and The Corrector, both newspapers edited by his brother Peter. He wasn’t a very good student and almost didn’t pass the bar. Washington, his brother William Irving and James Kirke wrote a collection of funny essays but he became more known for “A History of New York”, written under the name of "Diedrich Knickerbocker.". He went to England to work for his brothers business in 1815. He wrote a collection of stories called the “Sketch Book” and published it under the name Geoffrey Crayon.

He lived in Germany, France, and Spain he also traveled in France and Italy then returned to New York City to practice law Irving was readmitted to the bar. He would use material collected during this trip later in his stories and essays. He became attaché at the U.S Embassy in Madrid. In London he was the Secretary of the U.S Legation and later returned to Spain as the U.S ambassador. Washington was the first American man of letters. He spent most of his life Sunnyside NY at his estate working on historical and biographical works including a five-volume life of George Washington.

Washington Irving wrote a book mocking literary history it was called “the first great book of comic literature written by an American.” But before it was complete his fiancée, Matilda Hoffman, died. Over the time of six years Washington did not write creative literature so his brothers made him a partner in the family business. Over the years he collected poems of Thomas Campbell and edited the “Analectic Magazine” and popular magazine that reprinted miscellaneous articles from foreign periodicals. In 1815 his brother peter, who was in charge of the Liverpool office, had became ill, and the company was falling toward bankruptcy. In 1818 the company was forced to declare bankruptcy even though they tried to prevent it. Washington was forced to turn to his writing to make a living and he began to work on one of his famous books “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon”. The book was very successful and received well by critics with such good success he became a celebrity. In 1820, he collaborated on plays with J.H. Payne in Paris, and in 1822 he published “Bracebridge Hall”, another book of romantic sketches, which was equally well-received but not considered as important as “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon”.

Washington continued to travel Europe and published “Tales of a Traveler” in 1824 but it got very bad reviews. He became a attaché diplomat in Spain where he published “History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus” in 1832. He returned to New York in 1832 after publishing two more works “Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada” and “The Alhambra”.

He was welcomed back as the first American author to achieve international fame. He soon began to travel again by going to the Western Frontier to search for more settings for his stories. This helped him write three “A Tour on the “Pra(i)ries , Astoria”, and “The Adventures of Captain Bonneville” , “U.S.A”. , published between 1835 and 1837. Washington returned to Europe for three years and spent the final thirteen years of his life in New York. He continued writing until his death November 28th 1859.