Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/906

* IRVING. 800 IRVING. York City, lie was elected to the Xatioiial Acad- emy in 1872. His subjects are usually interiors, with carefully painted lijjurcs, in uld-tiuie cos- tume, llis works include "The !^|)linter;" "Wine Tasters" (ISOtl) : "The End of the (ianie;" "Car- dinal Wolsey and llis Krionds" (187t>) ; and "A lianquet at Hampton Court in the Si.vteenth Century." He also painted portraits. IRVING, Roland Uier ( 1847-88). An Ameri- can jriMiln^'ist, born in New York City. After completing his education at the Scliool of Mines of Columbia University, he was made assistant on the fi<'l(>;;ical survey of Ohio and in 1870 was ai'pciintcd professor of geoloijy and mincrahijni- in the L'niversily of Wisconsin, where lie was also assistant State geologist (1873-7'J). In this con- nection he published (leoloyy of Ventral Wiscon- sin ( 1877) ; (leolofffi of the Lake Superior Region (1880) ; Crystalline Uoeks of the Wisconsin Val- ley (1882); and Mineralogy and Lithology of Wisconsin (1883). In 1882 he was put at the head of the Lake Superior division of the United States Geolofrical Survey, and his important re- ports were published by the Covernment: The Copper- Bearing Hocks of Lake Superior (1883) ; On Secondary Enlargements of Mineral Frag- ments in Certain Hocks ( 1884) ; and The Classifi- cation of the Early Cambrian and Pre-Cambrian Formations (1880). IRVING, Wasiiixgto.n- (1783-1850). An American autlior. He was born in Xcw York City. .i)ril 3, 1783. His mother was English and his father had come from Scotland to New Y'ork City, where he engaged in trade. Irving studied in the schools of New York, and at the age of six- teen took uj) law. Uefore he was twenty he con- tributed, under the pseudonym of 'Jonathan Old- style.' to the New York Morning Chronicle, of which his brother was editor. Never in good health, he was obliged in 1804 to go to Europe, where he remained two years. Shortly after his return, he published in 1807 with his brother William and James K. Paulding (q.v.). Salma- gundi, or the Whim-Whams and Opinions of Launcelot Langstaff. Esq., an undertaking in the style of .ddifon's Spectator. In 1800 apiieared .4 History of Xeic York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty. Iiy Died- rich Knickerbocker — a humorous, whimsical, and genially satirical sketch, which brought him repu- tation and money. This book had been begun with the intention of burlesquing a pretentious guide-book by Dr. Samuel Mitchell. The Knick- erhorker History, to give it its most common name, grew as Irving's humor found more and more curiosities in the quaint and phlegmatic Butch type, which is so strongly contrasted with llu' quick and more volatile desccnd:uit of British stock. He then gave up any idea of law. and be- came a sleeping partner of his brothers, whose business house was in Liverpool, occupying him- self meanwhile with literary work. In'ing's reputation had preceded him to England, where his gracious manners made him a favorite in society. He met Campbell and Thomas Itoore and was heartily liked by Walter Scott, who per- suaded -Murray to publish Geoffrey Crayon's Skelch-Book. .Among other things, he edited The Poetical Works of Thomas Camphcll. During the War ot 1812 he was on the staff of Oovernor Tompkins, of New York, and was connected with the .inalectic Magazine of Philadelphia. In 1815 he went to Europe to look out for the business interests of the liim, the failure of which in 1813 turned him for good and all to literature. In 1810, in New York, and in 1820, in London, Irving published the book by which he is most jiopularly known. The Skvtch-Buok of Oeoffrey Crayon, Ocnt. It was heartily welcomed on botli sides of the Atlantic, and two of the stories especially. I{ip 1 u» Winkle and the Legend of Sleepy llollou-, have become classics in .merican literature. The SkctehBook soon went through many editions, was illustrated by Caldicott and commentated by Pfundhellcr for the Germans. The vein of the book is one of humor, tender- ness, geniality, and good-fellowship; the manner is reminiscent of Goldsmith and other English authors of the eighteenth century, to whom Irving was tcmiKTamentally drawn. In 1822 appeared anoihcr vohime in much the same manner. Brace- bridge Hull, or the Humorists, a series of sketches, translated bv Spiker into Gennan in 1820. In 1822 he visi'ted the Rhine, lived for a while in Paris, and again in England in 1824. In 1824 appeared the Talcs of a Traicller, a col- lection of short stories, with the same general good feeling, but with more action. In 1826 Irving went to Spain, remaining there until 1820, and, as a result of his stay, produced four books quite different from his former work: History of the Life and Times of Christopher Columbus I 1828) ; .1 Chronicle of the Conquest of Oranada (1820), an interesting narrative, but of no real historical value; Voyages and Discorcries of the Companions of Columbus (1831): and The Al- hambra (1832), a series of sketches and stories associated with the author's life in the romantic ruins of Granada. Irving's book on Columbus was written with the help of Spanish archives, after Irving had given up his original purpose to translate Navarrete's recently published work on the discoverer. The Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada purports to be founded on the manu- scripts of Fray Antonio Agapida, an imaginary chronicler. The Alhambra was written mainly in London, where Irving was secretary of the United States I.^gation from 1829-31. He re- turned to America in 1S32. where he was wel- comed with almost national honor; for the people of the I'nited States thought, with good grounds, that he had won recognition abroad of American literature. In 1S41 Irving was appointed United States Minister at Madrid, where he lived from 1843 to 1840, continuing his historical writing with the work on Mahomet. He passed the rest of his life, with the exception of some months of travel in the West, at Sunnyside. his country-seat near Tarrytown, N^. Y. Up to 1840 his literary work was inferior to what he had previously done, and is of little value. It consists of The Crayon Miscellany (183.5); Astoria (1830); and The Rockii Mountains: or. Scenes, Incidents, and .d- ventures in the Far West (1S37). The work which came toward the end of his life, however, added to his reputation. It was chiefly bio- graphical and historical: Oliver Goldsmith (1840) ; Mahomet and His Successors (1840-50) ; Wolfcrt's Roost (1855) ; and his long-planned and affectionate Life of Washington (1855-50), which ne completed only with the year of his death. He died at Trvington. N. Y.. Novemlier 28. 1850. Posthumousl.v there appeared The Life and Letters ot ^yashingtO)t Irving (1862-03) and