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 WASHINGTON IRVING 141 spicuously displayed in his next attempt, " Knickerbocker's History of New York " (1809). The satire of " Salmagundi " had been principally local, and the original design of "Knickerbocker's History" was only to burlesque a preten- tious disquisition on the history of the city in a guide-book by Dr. Samuel Mitch- ell. The idea expanded as Irving pro- ceeded, and he ended by not merely sat- irizing the pedantry of local antiquaries, but by creating a distinct literary type out of the solid Dutch burgher whose phlegm had long been an object of ridicule to the mercurial Americans. Though far from the most finished of Irving's productions, "Knickerbocker" manifests the most original power and is the most genu- inely national in its quaintness and droll- ery. The very tardiness and prolixity of the story are skilfully made to heighten the humorous effect. The next few years were unproductive. Upon the death of his father, Irving had become a sleeping partner in his brother's commercial house, a branch of which was established at Liverpool This, combined with the restoration of peace, induced him to visit England in 181 5, when he found the stability of the firm seriously compromised. After some years of ineffectual struggle it became bankrupt. This misfortune compelled Irving to resume his pen as a means of subsistence. His reputation had preceded him to England, and the curiosity naturally excited by the then unwonted apparition of a successful American author procured him admission into the highest literary circles, where his popularity was insured by his amiable temper and polished manners. As an American, moreover, he aroused no jealousy and no competition, and stood aloof from the political and literary disputes which then divided England. Campbell, Jeffrey, Moore, Scott were counted among his friends, and the last-named zealously recommended him to the publisher Murray, who, after at first refusing, consented (1820) to bring out "Geoffrey Crayon's Sketch-book," which was already appearing in America in a periodical form. The most interesting part of this work is the description of an English Christmas, which displays a delicate humor not unworthy of the writer's evident model, Addison. Some stories and sketches on American themes con- tribute to give it variety ; of these Rip Van Winkle is the most remarkable. It speedily obtained the greatest success on both sides of the Atlantic. " Bracebridge Hall," a work purely English in subject, followed in 1822, and showed to what account the American observer had turned his experience of English country life. The humor is, nevertheless, much more English than American. " Tales of a Traveller" appeared in 1824, and Irving, now in comfortable circumstances, deter-