Washington Irving's Sketch Book

Fülszöveg

WASHINGTON
IRVING'S SKETCH BOOK
The Classic Artist's Edition of 1863
With a New Foreword by Philip McFarland
150 Illustrations
In the year 1818, the young American Washington Irving found himself in a foreign land—England —without money or occupation. So he set pen to paper and produced The Sketch Book, a warm, witty, and appealing collection of pieces. By turns humorous, eloquent, and richly descriptive, it is written in language so powerful and true that it is still used today as an example of fine prose for those studying English in Europe and Asia.
And it is completely appropriate that Irving, who so loved fine bookmaking, is here presented in this reprint of the classic Artist's Edition of 1863, a volume that sparkles with the lively and droll drawings of E O. Darley and other noted American artists of the nineteenth century. This edition is also specially distinguished by a new foreword by Philip McFarland, the popular writer and noted authority on Washington Irving.... Tovább

Fülszöveg

WASHINGTON
IRVING'S SKETCH BOOK
The Classic Artist's Edition of 1863
With a New Foreword by Philip McFarland
150 Illustrations
In the year 1818, the young American Washington Irving found himself in a foreign land—England —without money or occupation. So he set pen to paper and produced The Sketch Book, a warm, witty, and appealing collection of pieces. By turns humorous, eloquent, and richly descriptive, it is written in language so powerful and true that it is still used today as an example of fine prose for those studying English in Europe and Asia.
And it is completely appropriate that Irving, who so loved fine bookmaking, is here presented in this reprint of the classic Artist's Edition of 1863, a volume that sparkles with the lively and droll drawings of E O. Darley and other noted American artists of the nineteenth century. This edition is also specially distinguished by a new foreword by Philip McFarland, the popular writer and noted authority on Washington Irving.
There is great variety in this colorful collection of stories, essays, travelogues, and folklore. The stars, of course, are those incomparable tales, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle," but the others, less well known, are also charming in their own ways and moods. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle" present Irving at his happiest. Lyrical and evocative, he sets the stage, creating an atmosphere in which the reader is truly transported into that drowsy, dreamy, nostalgic, and tranquil era when there was time to linger and savor life's quiet pleasures and small adventures.
(Continued on back flap)
This book was originally published under the title The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gentleman.
(Continued from front flap)
Witness his sly humor in this introduction to Katrina Van Tassel, the country coquette who was to be the downfall of the poor schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane:
I profess not to know how women's hearts are wooed and won. To me they have always been matters of riddle and admiration. Some seem to have but one vulnerable point, or door of access; while others have a thousand avenues, and may be captured in a thousand different ways. It is a great triumph of skill to gain the former, but a still greater proof of generalship to maintain possession of the latter, for a man must battle for his fortress at every door and window. He who wins a thousand common hearts is therefore entitled to some renown; but he who keeps undisputed sway over the heart of a coquette, is indeed a hero.
But there are also tales of England and America, descriptions of contemporary life and habits in England, essays on the delights of an antiquarian rummaging among old books, literary and biographical essays, and records of Irving's rambles through various places: the Boar's Head Inn, Westminster Abbey, and Stratford-on-Avon among them. Political subjects are included as well; particularly of note are the two Indian sketches which displayed a courageous liberality far in advance of Irving's time.
The rediscovered treasures of this specially illustrated edition embellish a work that lives on from century to century. His Sketch Book is surely Washington Irving's finest and most beloved creation.
Philip McFarland is a teacher at Concord Academy and the author ofthe acclaimed Sojourners, a study ofthe life and work of Washington Irving that also re-created the many worlds through which Irving and his famous contemporaries moved.
Jacket fiont illustration by Paul Jennis/Mendola, Ltd.
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