The first American writer to be acclaimed as a literary figure of stature on both sides of the Atlantic, Washington Irving is today regarded as an important but obscure figure of American letters. Despite the decline in his popularity, our national memory is peopled with his creations--Ichabod Crane, Rip Van Winkle, and Father Knickerbocker. In his own day he was regarded by some as a dilettante; nevertheless, he wrote fiction and fact so gracefully that even his critics must concede that his work is rewarding to readers who come upon him more than two hundred years after his birth.

Washington Irving was a man of many parts. Often described as a "gentleman-author," he was also an editor, journalist, soldier, historiographer, translator, diplomat, lawyer, folklorist, explorer, satirist, playwright, and poet. Literary criticism of his writing is replete with words such as "sunny," "genial," "cheerful," "gentle," and "humane," with only...