IRVING 



3067 



IRVING 



For a time Irving was engaged as a clerk in 

 London, but he adopted the theatrical profes- 

 sion in 1856. A spirit, of stern determination 

 carried him through discouragements for four 

 years, until he gained recognition in The Two 

 Roses. Then followed his successful presenta- 

 tions of Matthias in The Bells, and the title 

 roles of Eugene Aram, Hamlet, Macbeth, 

 Richelieu, Richard III and Othello. In 1878 

 he entered upon his memorable management of 

 the Lyceum Theater, where his triumphs were 

 shared by Miss Ellen Terry (which see). Here, 

 as well as later in the United States and 

 Canada, he was enthusiastically received in his 

 interpretations of these and many other 

 Shakespearean characters, in Tennyson's Becket 

 and The Cup, in The Corsican Brothers and 

 many other plays. He died in London a few 

 hours after a performance of Becket. Irving's 

 little mannerisms of voice, gait and gesture, 

 as well as his lack of great emotional strength 

 and fire, prevented him from attaining a place 

 among the greatest actors of all time. 



IRVING , WASHINGTON ( 1783-1859) , America's 

 pioneer in the field of general literature. He 

 was born April 3, 1783, in New York City, the 

 youngest of eleven children. His father was 

 a stern Scotch Presbyterian, his mother a 

 gentle English woman, and from both, it 

 seemed, the boy inherited their best traits. 

 But in his youth, especially, there was always 

 in* his character a touch of his own later Rip 

 Van Winkle he never took life quite seriously 

 or saw the necessity of work. The education 

 he obtained in his youth was slight, and 

 because he lacked application he was never 

 sent to college. At sixteen he entered a law 

 office,- only to continue eagerly poring over 

 books of poetry and travel. Symptoms of lung 

 trouble led him to spend much time, also, in 

 rambles over the Sleepy Hollow region and 

 sails up the Hudson and Mohawk rivers. In 

 1802, under the pen name of Jonathan Oldstyle, 

 he wrote a series of letters for the Morning 

 Chronicle; and this, his first real literary work, 

 showed a style worthy almost of Addison 

 himself. 



In 1804 Irving sailed for Europe, and con- 

 trary to the expectations of the captain, lived 

 to land, improved in health. On the Continent 

 he roamed about, enjoying the art, literature 

 and antiquities of France and Italy and gaining 

 the friendship of many eminent people; in 

 1806 he returned to America, broader in knowl- 

 edge, culture and sympathies, but still an idler. 

 He was soon admitted to the bar, but gave 



much of his time to social pleasures, and within 

 a short time began, with his brother William 

 and James K. Paulding, to publish Salmagundi, 

 a semimonthly periodical containing essays 

 and sketches of various sorts after the manner 

 of the Spectator. This paper was enthusiasti- 

 cally received, but after a score of issues the 

 editors ceased their work. At about this time 

 Irving's promised wife, Matilda Hoffman, fell 

 ill and died. After Irving's death more than 

 a half-century later, a letter in his own hand- 



WASHINGTON IRVING 



His books do good to all who read them, and 

 are likely to outlast many works of far greater 

 intellectual force and acumen. HAWTHORNE. 



writing was found, attributing to the depth of 

 this early love the lonely bachelor life which 

 seemed so strange for one of his genial nature. 

 To escape his grief, he . labored to finish 

 Knickerbocker's History of New York, a de- 

 lightfully humorous and mock-heroic story, 

 which brought him immediate fame and profits. 

 Literature was not yet generally recognized 

 as a means of livelihood, and Irving still tried 

 to force himself to some surer occupation. The 

 next five years he spent in a business partner- 

 ship with his brothers, much of the time, how- 

 ever, enjoying Philadelphia and Washington 

 society; for he failed hopelessly at regular 

 work, both in his store and as editor of a 

 magazine. In 1815 he sailed again for Europe 

 this time to be gone for seventeen years. His 

 book had preceded him, and he was soon a 

 favorite among English authors and society. 

 In the crisis following the War of 1812 his 

 brothers failed, and for the first time Irving's 



