WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.169 okay let's unpack this we are diving deep today 00:00:03.169 --> 00:00:06.809 into a figure whose stories, I mean, Headless 00:00:06.809 --> 00:00:09.349 Horseman, Rip Van Winkle, they're just absolute 00:00:09.349 --> 00:00:11.789 cultural bedrock. They really are. Yet the man 00:00:11.789 --> 00:00:15.630 himself, Washington Irving, his entire prolific 00:00:15.630 --> 00:00:18.910 and frankly globally influential career is often 00:00:18.910 --> 00:00:21.350 just boiled down to those two ghost stories. 00:00:21.609 --> 00:00:23.329 And that's the real paradox we're getting into. 00:00:23.429 --> 00:00:26.210 America's first literary superstar who spent 00:00:26.210 --> 00:00:28.730 nearly two decades living abroad. It doesn't 00:00:28.730 --> 00:00:30.809 quite add up on the surface. Exactly. Our listeners 00:00:30.809 --> 00:00:33.520 shared a ton. of sources covering Irving's entire 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:35.840 journey. And it is a journey. It goes from these 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:38.320 satirical pseudonyms and early New York fame 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:42.399 all the way to international diplomacy in a very 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:45.119 volatile Spain. And then to his later life as 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:48.299 a serious, multi -volume historian and biographer. 00:00:48.420 --> 00:00:50.320 It's an incredible arc. So our mission here is 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:53.219 to distill why Washington Irving, born in 1783, 00:00:53.479 --> 00:00:56.380 died in 1859, is rightly considered the first 00:00:56.380 --> 00:00:59.399 true American man of letters. Right. And crucially, 00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:02.000 to uncover the massive... invisible cultural 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.939 fingerprints he left on this young nation. We're 00:01:04.939 --> 00:01:06.659 talking about things we just completely take 00:01:06.659 --> 00:01:09.040 for granted today. What's so fascinating here 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:11.819 is just how foundational Irving was. He wasn't 00:01:11.819 --> 00:01:14.400 simply a storyteller. I mean, he was a diplomat, 00:01:14.439 --> 00:01:17.040 a political commentator, a businessman. He wore 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:20.400 a lot of hats. So many. And he fundamentally 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:24.659 shifted how America viewed writing itself. He 00:01:24.659 --> 00:01:27.480 made it a viable, professional career path for 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:30.480 the very first time. That's a huge deal. A huge 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:33.420 deal. He literally invented the blueprint for 00:01:33.420 --> 00:01:35.780 the American Christmas celebration. He gave New 00:01:35.780 --> 00:01:38.980 York City its most famous nickname, and he pioneered 00:01:38.980 --> 00:01:41.000 the whole battle for authors' rights against 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:44.200 piracy. Wow. Yeah. His career is like a living 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:46.319 timeline of the challenges the early American 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:49.299 Republic faced trying to figure out his own cultural 00:01:49.299 --> 00:01:50.980 identity. Okay, so we have to start at the beginning, 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:53.959 his birth, because the timing is just so poetically 00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:57.189 perfect for a national literary figure. He was 00:01:57.189 --> 00:02:01.269 born in Manhattan on April 3rd, 1783. That date 00:02:01.269 --> 00:02:03.030 is absolutely crucial. I mean, you couldn't write 00:02:03.030 --> 00:02:05.810 it better. His birth coincided precisely with 00:02:05.810 --> 00:02:08.229 the news reaching New York that the British ceasefire 00:02:08.229 --> 00:02:10.069 had officially ended the American Revolution. 00:02:10.430 --> 00:02:12.490 So he's quite literally born with the nation. 00:02:12.750 --> 00:02:15.810 Exactly. A symbolic child of the new republic, 00:02:16.009 --> 00:02:18.629 you know, emerging from the chaos of war. And 00:02:18.629 --> 00:02:21.409 his name obviously reflects that symbolic weight. 00:02:21.469 --> 00:02:23.509 His mother named him after the country's hero, 00:02:23.650 --> 00:02:26.020 George Washington. And the connection didn't 00:02:26.020 --> 00:02:28.099 just end there. It gets better. Irving actually 00:02:28.099 --> 00:02:30.560 met his namesake when he was just six years old. 00:02:30.659 --> 00:02:33.919 No way. Yes, just before Washington's inauguration 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:37.860 as the first president in 1789. The story goes 00:02:37.860 --> 00:02:40.300 that he was brought into the presence of the 00:02:40.300 --> 00:02:42.699 president, who then placed his hand on the young 00:02:42.699 --> 00:02:45.469 boy's head and blessed him. That's incredible. 00:02:45.569 --> 00:02:47.689 It's like something out of a myth itself. It 00:02:47.689 --> 00:02:50.530 is. And it was such a profound moment for Irving 00:02:50.530 --> 00:02:53.229 that he later commissioned a watercolor painting 00:02:53.229 --> 00:02:57.069 of that very encounter. That painting held a 00:02:57.069 --> 00:02:59.969 place of honor in his home, Sunnyside, for the 00:02:59.969 --> 00:03:02.250 rest of his life. It's hard to imagine a more 00:03:02.250 --> 00:03:04.490 potent mythological start for the writer who 00:03:04.490 --> 00:03:06.710 would go on to define American mythology. Right. 00:03:06.750 --> 00:03:08.370 His family life, though, was pretty comfortable. 00:03:08.469 --> 00:03:10.550 They were Manhattan merchants, successful enough 00:03:10.550 --> 00:03:13.550 to support his, let's call it an unconventional 00:03:13.550 --> 00:03:16.800 path. And that financial cushion was instrumental. 00:03:17.340 --> 00:03:19.860 His brothers, who were successful merchants, 00:03:20.379 --> 00:03:23.259 they often supported his literary pursuits. So 00:03:23.259 --> 00:03:26.400 he had a safety net. A huge one. In those early 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:28.900 days, writing just wasn't a reliable profession. 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:32.599 So that family backing gave him the freedom to 00:03:32.599 --> 00:03:35.979 pursue the craft without, you know... the immediate 00:03:35.979 --> 00:03:38.419 need for a stable job. That's a critical point. 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:40.419 He only became the first professional American 00:03:40.419 --> 00:03:43.340 writer because he had that early non -professional 00:03:43.340 --> 00:03:45.400 support. Exactly. And it's a good thing he had 00:03:45.400 --> 00:03:47.800 that freedom because he was not cut out for the 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:50.300 traditional path. Not at all. He described himself 00:03:50.300 --> 00:03:53.419 as an uninterested student. By the time he was 00:03:53.419 --> 00:03:55.699 14, he was already neglecting his schoolwork. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:59.620 He preferred adventure stories and... Theatrical 00:03:59.620 --> 00:04:01.759 drama. Sneaking out to the theater. Yeah, he'd 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:03.560 regularly sneak out of class and cross the East 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:05.360 River to attend the theater in the evenings. 00:04:05.560 --> 00:04:08.419 He was just captivated by spectacle and narrative 00:04:08.419 --> 00:04:10.819 long before he developed the discipline to actually 00:04:10.819 --> 00:04:13.900 create it himself. And this search for atmosphere 00:04:13.900 --> 00:04:17.160 and, I guess, for material, it led him geographically 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:19.519 up the Hudson River Valley. Right. And that set 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:21.839 the stage for his most famous works. How did 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:24.819 that happen? Well, in 1798, there was a severe 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:28.040 yellow fever outbreak in Manhattan. So he was 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:31.300 sent upriver for safety. He stayed with his friend 00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:33.920 James Kirk Paulding in Tarrytown, New York. The 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:36.639 future Sleepy Hollow. That's the place. And that 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:39.459 region was just this deep reservoir of early 00:04:39.459 --> 00:04:42.139 American history and folklore. He got deeply 00:04:42.139 --> 00:04:45.000 immersed in the region's Dutch customs and local 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:47.000 ghost stories. He must have found the atmosphere 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:49.920 electric. Totally. The Catskill Mountains, which 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:51.779 of course became the setting for Rip Van Winkle, 00:04:51.920 --> 00:04:54.699 they left this lasting, powerful impression on 00:04:54.699 --> 00:04:56.839 him. He later wrote that the area had the most 00:04:56.839 --> 00:05:00.300 witching effect on his boyish imagination. So 00:05:00.300 --> 00:05:02.500 that landscape wasn't just a place for him, it 00:05:02.500 --> 00:05:04.740 was a character. It was a stage for the young 00:05:04.740 --> 00:05:08.199 nation's first enduring literary myths. And that 00:05:08.199 --> 00:05:11.259 atmosphere, it fueled his first foray into publishing. 00:05:11.800 --> 00:05:14.920 At just 19, in 1802, he started publishing these 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:17.360 observational letters on New York society in 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:19.160 the Morning Chronicle. And he immediately used 00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:22.180 a pseudonym. He did. He leaned right into that 00:05:22.180 --> 00:05:25.040 trick, publishing under the name Jonathan Oldstyle. 00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:29.339 And the name itself was a comment on his somewhat 00:05:29.339 --> 00:05:32.199 conservative Federalist leanings. Suggesting 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:34.600 he preferred the old ways. Exactly. And this 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:37.699 quickly brought him some early fame and attention 00:05:37.699 --> 00:05:40.939 from the city's elite. Even major political figures 00:05:40.939 --> 00:05:44.040 took notice. Oh, absolutely. The powerful politician 00:05:44.040 --> 00:05:47.920 Aaron Burr noticed his sharp wit and was so impressed 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:50.860 he sent clippings to his own daughter. Wow. And 00:05:50.860 --> 00:05:53.339 Charles Brockton Brown, who's often called the 00:05:53.339 --> 00:05:55.740 father of the American novel, he made a trip 00:05:55.740 --> 00:05:57.860 to New York specifically trying to track down 00:05:57.860 --> 00:06:01.319 and recruit this mysterious old style for a literary 00:06:01.319 --> 00:06:04.259 magazine he was editing. So Irving was establishing 00:06:04.259 --> 00:06:07.040 this reputation as a sophisticated wit long before 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:09.360 he was even a committed author. Right. But the 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:11.579 pressure to conform was still there. His brothers, 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:13.839 they were concerned about his health, so they 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:15.980 financed a grand European tour for him between 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:18.699 1804 and 1806. The classic gentleman's education. 00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:22.079 Supposedly. But he largely dodged those expectations. 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:25.579 His brother William was dismayed. He wrote home 00:06:25.579 --> 00:06:27.540 that Washington was galloping through Italy, 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:30.000 leaving Florence on your left and Venice on your 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:32.019 right. So he was skipping the essential sites. 00:06:32.339 --> 00:06:35.339 He was. Instead, Irving was honing his incredible 00:06:35.339 --> 00:06:38.399 social, conversational, and diplomatic skills. 00:06:38.939 --> 00:06:41.279 the very assets that would make him so invaluable 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:44.800 later on. That adaptability is key. He came back 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:47.199 home and at least tried to follow a legal career 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:50.259 path. He tried. He studied law with Judge Josiah 00:06:50.259 --> 00:06:52.620 Ogden Hoffman, but he was just a terrible student. 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:56.220 He barely passed the bar exam in 1806, and he 00:06:56.220 --> 00:06:58.500 freely admitted his lack of dedication. So this 00:06:58.500 --> 00:07:01.019 inability to conform to a conventional profession 00:07:01.019 --> 00:07:03.660 really became the driver for his writing. It 00:07:03.660 --> 00:07:05.920 did. He was searching for a path that matched 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:09.040 his genuine talent for observation and wit. Which 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:11.720 brings us to his true creative breakout. He co 00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:14.160 -founds the literary magazine Salma Gandhi with 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:16.120 his brother William and James Kirk Paulding in 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:19.720 1807. Salma Gandhi was basically an irreverent 00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:22.120 mirror held up to New York society. It was a 00:07:22.120 --> 00:07:24.199 platform where he just fully embraced satire, 00:07:24.220 --> 00:07:26.360 lampooning the culture and politics of the city. 00:07:26.649 --> 00:07:29.029 Using a bunch of new pseudonyms, like William 00:07:29.029 --> 00:07:31.990 Wizard and Lancelot Langstaff. Right. The goal 00:07:31.990 --> 00:07:34.670 was pure, witty commentary and entertainment. 00:07:35.069 --> 00:07:37.290 And it was here, in this short -lived magazine, 00:07:37.569 --> 00:07:39.949 that he gave New York City an identity that has 00:07:39.949 --> 00:07:43.009 lasted for two centuries. It was in the 17th 00:07:43.009 --> 00:07:46.209 issue of Selma Gundy, dated November 11, 1807, 00:07:46.329 --> 00:07:48.910 that Irving gave the city its famous nickname, 00:07:49.310 --> 00:07:52.699 Gotham. The irony in this choice is just fantastic. 00:07:53.060 --> 00:07:55.300 Gotham is an Anglo -Saxon word that literally 00:07:55.300 --> 00:07:58.540 means goat's town. Right. It referred to an old 00:07:58.540 --> 00:08:01.000 English town known in folklore for its foolish 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:03.879 inhabitants. Who deliberately acted mad to prevent 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:05.699 the king from passing through and taxing them. 00:08:05.949 --> 00:08:08.250 So when Irving called New York Gotham, he wasn't 00:08:08.250 --> 00:08:10.850 paying it a compliment. No, he was gently, or 00:08:10.850 --> 00:08:13.410 maybe not so gently, mocking the pretensions 00:08:13.410 --> 00:08:15.769 and the vanity of the city's residents. Absolutely. 00:08:15.930 --> 00:08:18.310 And that satirical spirit set the stage for his 00:08:18.310 --> 00:08:21.170 first monumental literary success, A History 00:08:21.170 --> 00:08:24.100 of New York in 1809. But this was not a real 00:08:24.100 --> 00:08:27.319 history. No, it was a sprawling, humorous satire 00:08:27.319 --> 00:08:29.459 aimed right at the dry, self -important local 00:08:29.459 --> 00:08:32.379 histories of the day, all framed within the persona 00:08:32.379 --> 00:08:34.860 of Diedrich Knickerbocker. And the launch of 00:08:34.860 --> 00:08:37.779 this book is where Irving reveals himself as, 00:08:37.899 --> 00:08:41.460 I mean, a true genius of early public relations. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:44.980 He orchestrated a massive marketing hoax that 00:08:44.980 --> 00:08:47.620 just gripped the entire city. You really can't 00:08:47.620 --> 00:08:49.519 overstate the brilliance of the Knickerbocker 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:52.220 hoax. No, you can't. Irving and his brother first 00:08:52.220 --> 00:08:54.519 placed a series of classified missing person 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:57.879 ads in the New York Evening Post. Looking for 00:08:57.879 --> 00:09:01.220 Diedrich Knickerbocker. Exactly. Described as 00:09:01.220 --> 00:09:04.360 this crusty, elderly Dutch scholar who had vanished 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:06.500 from his boarding house. They made him sound 00:09:06.500 --> 00:09:08.980 completely real right down to his eccentric clothes. 00:09:09.179 --> 00:09:11.299 So then they followed up? A few days later, they 00:09:11.299 --> 00:09:13.500 published another notice. supposedly from the 00:09:13.500 --> 00:09:15.759 hotel proprietor, saying that if the old man 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:18.440 didn't return to settle his bill, the proprietor 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:20.580 would be forced to publish the lengthy, peculiar 00:09:20.580 --> 00:09:23.600 manuscript he'd left behind. So the city is now 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:25.840 tracking a missing person who's also a literary 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:28.200 figure whose lost manuscript is about to be printed 00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:31.429 against his will. It's genius. It's pure genius. 00:09:31.649 --> 00:09:34.250 And the public reaction was astounding. It wasn't 00:09:34.250 --> 00:09:36.629 just the public. The city officials were genuinely 00:09:36.629 --> 00:09:39.850 concerned enough to offer a reward for the safe 00:09:39.850 --> 00:09:43.049 return of this fictional historian. That's amazing. 00:09:43.470 --> 00:09:45.149 People were talking about Knickerbocker on every 00:09:45.149 --> 00:09:47.669 street corner. So when Irving finally published 00:09:47.669 --> 00:09:50.070 the history under the Knickerbocker name, the 00:09:50.070 --> 00:09:52.629 pre -publication buzz guaranteed it would be 00:09:52.629 --> 00:09:55.159 an instant success. He had established himself 00:09:55.159 --> 00:09:59.000 in one move as a master of both satire and marketing. 00:09:59.340 --> 00:10:02.559 And the legacy of that name, Diedrich Knickerbocker, 00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:05.259 it stuck. It became a nickname for the city's 00:10:05.259 --> 00:10:07.259 residents. And of course, it was later adopted 00:10:07.259 --> 00:10:09.779 by the New York Knicks. It's just another example 00:10:09.779 --> 00:10:12.240 of him weaving fiction into the cultural fabric. 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:15.460 But this high point of public success was happening 00:10:15.460 --> 00:10:17.799 during a period of profound personal tragedy 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:20.840 for him. It was. He wrote this first major work 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:23.080 while mourning the death of his 17 -year -old 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:25.639 fiancée, Matilda Hoffman, who had died just two 00:10:25.639 --> 00:10:28.840 years earlier. He never married, and his inability 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:31.419 to secure a stable income was tied to losing 00:10:31.419 --> 00:10:33.620 the one person he truly wanted to settle down 00:10:33.620 --> 00:10:36.500 with. That adds such a layer of melancholy to 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:39.919 his early brilliant satire. He was navigating 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:42.799 immense personal grief and professional uncertainty 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:46.500 all at once. Yeah. After the success of the history, 00:10:46.679 --> 00:10:49.509 Irving tried to find some stability. He took 00:10:49.509 --> 00:10:52.230 a role editing Analectic Magazine. And during 00:10:52.230 --> 00:10:54.850 this period, he was really engaged with the narratives 00:10:54.850 --> 00:10:57.350 of the Young Republic. He was writing biographies 00:10:57.350 --> 00:11:00.549 of naval heroes. And significantly, he was among 00:11:00.549 --> 00:11:03.629 the first editors to reprint Francis Scott Key's 00:11:03.629 --> 00:11:06.769 poem, Defense of Fort McHenry, the work that 00:11:06.769 --> 00:11:08.909 would become the Star -Spangled Banner. It's 00:11:08.909 --> 00:11:10.409 interesting, though, that his political stance 00:11:10.409 --> 00:11:13.240 in the War of 1812 was initially... cautious. 00:11:13.419 --> 00:11:15.899 He was, after all, part of the merchant class. 00:11:16.120 --> 00:11:18.279 Right. And they saw the conflict is economically 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:21.480 devastating. But that perspective changed dramatically 00:11:21.480 --> 00:11:24.139 in 1814 after the British attacked Washington, 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:27.100 D .C. He enlisted. He did. He served on the staff 00:11:27.100 --> 00:11:29.419 of New York Governor Daniel Tompkins. He saw 00:11:29.419 --> 00:11:31.679 minimal action, but his willingness to serve 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:33.639 sort of confirmed his commitment to the American 00:11:33.639 --> 00:11:36.080 cause. But the war had a disastrous consequence 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:39.419 for his family's business. It did. It crippled 00:11:39.419 --> 00:11:41.860 international trade, and the Irving family trading 00:11:41.860 --> 00:11:45.019 company suffered immensely. This is the financial 00:11:45.019 --> 00:11:48.490 crisis that really forced his hand. In mid -1815, 00:11:48.850 --> 00:11:51.690 Irving sailed for England with the grim mission 00:11:51.690 --> 00:11:54.330 of tripping to salvage the collapsing firm. He 00:11:54.330 --> 00:11:56.370 thought it would be a brief trip. A brief trip 00:11:56.370 --> 00:12:00.110 that turned into 17 years. He spent two arduous 00:12:00.110 --> 00:12:02.389 years trying every maneuver he could think of. 00:12:02.669 --> 00:12:05.629 But the economic crisis was just too deep. By 00:12:05.629 --> 00:12:08.090 1817, the firm was forced to declare bankruptcy. 00:12:08.409 --> 00:12:10.669 So this was the true crossroads of his life. 00:12:10.710 --> 00:12:12.950 He's stranded abroad, he's penniless, and the 00:12:12.950 --> 00:12:16.700 family safety net is gone. It's gone. So... Facing 00:12:16.700 --> 00:12:19.220 total destitution, he made what must have been 00:12:19.220 --> 00:12:21.879 a terrifying career shift. He committed to writing 00:12:21.879 --> 00:12:24.419 full -time in 1817. This is the moment America 00:12:24.419 --> 00:12:26.519 gets its first professional author. And this 00:12:26.519 --> 00:12:29.059 commitment was strengthened by a really key relationship. 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:33.159 Yes. In the summer of 1817, he visited Abbotsford 00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:35.419 and established this deep lifelong friendship 00:12:35.419 --> 00:12:37.980 with Sir Walter Scott, who was arguably the most 00:12:37.980 --> 00:12:39.820 celebrated writer in the world at the time. And 00:12:39.820 --> 00:12:41.860 that connection would later become his financial 00:12:41.860 --> 00:12:45.080 lifeline. Absolutely. The pressure on him was 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:47.700 immense. He was in England, staying with his 00:12:47.700 --> 00:12:50.200 sister Sarah, when the inspiration for his most 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:53.799 famous story struck. He composed Rip Van Winkle 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:56.500 almost overnight. And the commitment he showed 00:12:56.500 --> 00:12:59.120 to this new life was total. Oh, completely. In 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:01.960 October 1818, his brother William secured him 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:05.519 a guaranteed, stable, well -paying post as chief 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:07.940 clerk to the U .S. Navy. And he urged him to 00:13:07.940 --> 00:13:10.440 come home to financial security. And Irving turned 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:13.620 it down flat. He refused the stability his family 00:13:13.620 --> 00:13:15.820 had always wanted for him, choosing instead to 00:13:15.820 --> 00:13:18.440 stay in Europe and pursue the volatile, bankruptcy 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:21.460 -fueled career of a writer. That was an incredibly 00:13:21.460 --> 00:13:24.399 courageous gamble. A huge gamble. But it paid 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:27.799 off. In 1819, he sent a set of short pieces back 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:30.559 to his brother Ebenezer in New York. The collection 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:32.980 was titled The Sketchbook of Jeffrey Cranon Gent. 00:13:33.139 --> 00:13:35.240 And it was serialized in seven installments. 00:13:35.620 --> 00:13:37.659 Rip Van Winkle was in the first, and The Legend 00:13:37.659 --> 00:13:40.000 of Sleepy Hollow was in the sixth. The reaction 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:42.460 was immediate and phenomenal. The stories felt 00:13:42.460 --> 00:13:44.720 uniquely American in their setting, but they 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:47.200 were polished enough to appeal to European sensibilities. 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:50.940 But that success immediately created a massive 00:13:50.940 --> 00:13:53.799 financial headache. The problem of literary piracy. 00:13:53.940 --> 00:13:56.299 Right. The lack of international copyright law 00:13:56.299 --> 00:13:58.320 meant that as soon as his work appeared in New 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:01.080 York, British publishers could just reprint it 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:03.440 without his permission and without paying him 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:05.700 a dime. So he had to execute this high stakes 00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:09.799 calculated defense. He paid out of his own pocket 00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:12.340 to publish the first four American installments 00:14:12.340 --> 00:14:16.220 as a single volume in London. His goal was purely 00:14:16.220 --> 00:14:18.899 defensive to establish his claim. But then his 00:14:18.899 --> 00:14:21.620 London publisher went bankrupt. He did. Irving 00:14:21.620 --> 00:14:24.320 was briefly in a panic. And that's when the Sir 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:26.980 Walter Scott connection saved him. Scott intervened. 00:14:27.059 --> 00:14:29.580 He did. He recommended Irving to the powerful 00:14:29.580 --> 00:14:32.360 London publisher John Murray, who agreed to take 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:34.519 on the sketchbook. And this move was groundbreaking 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:37.340 for American literature. Irving established the 00:14:37.340 --> 00:14:39.720 essential precedent of publishing concurrently 00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:41.940 in both the U .S. and Britain. It was the only 00:14:41.940 --> 00:14:43.919 way to protect his copyright and his earnings. 00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:47.000 It was. And this strategy, combined with the 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:49.259 sheer popularity of the book, it transformed 00:14:49.259 --> 00:14:52.360 his status overnight. For the next two years, 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:54.840 he was an international celebrity. He was celebrated 00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:57.840 in Paris and Great Britain as this cultural phenomenon. 00:14:58.500 --> 00:15:01.200 The sources call him an anomaly of literature, 00:15:01.460 --> 00:15:04.139 an upstart American who dared to write English 00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:07.779 well. That's a great line. It is. But that status 00:15:07.779 --> 00:15:10.799 created this pressure to keep producing. His 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:14.139 follow -up in 1822 was Bracebridge Hall, using 00:15:14.139 --> 00:15:16.740 the same Geoffrey Cran persona. This time focusing 00:15:16.740 --> 00:15:19.639 more on English country life. Right. And it was 00:15:19.639 --> 00:15:22.080 generally well -received. It cemented his reputation 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:24.879 with European readers. But the first signs of 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:27.120 a critical backlash started to appear. They did. 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:29.419 Some critics felt it was just a charming imitation 00:15:29.419 --> 00:15:31.580 of the sketchbook, that it lacked originality. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.100 And meanwhile, Irving was struggling internally. 00:15:34.299 --> 00:15:37.019 He was traveling in search of new material, battling 00:15:37.019 --> 00:15:39.559 severe writer's block and depression after the 00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:41.500 death of his brother William. And there was more 00:15:41.500 --> 00:15:44.299 personal heartache. Yes. While he was in Dresden, 00:15:44.419 --> 00:15:46.940 the 39 -year -old Irving unsuccessfully proposed 00:15:46.940 --> 00:15:50.299 to an 18 -year -old named Emily Foster. She refused 00:15:50.299 --> 00:15:53.399 him in 1823. He returned to Paris depressed and 00:15:53.399 --> 00:15:56.049 creatively drained. And in an effort to recover, 00:15:56.250 --> 00:15:59.710 he published Tales of a Traveler in 1824, which 00:15:59.710 --> 00:16:02.289 included the famous story The Devil and Tom Walker. 00:16:02.509 --> 00:16:05.409 He was really optimistic about it. But the critics 00:16:05.409 --> 00:16:08.750 were brutal. They were. While the book sold respectably, 00:16:08.850 --> 00:16:11.730 the critical consensus was disappointment. The 00:16:11.730 --> 00:16:14.490 New York Mirror pronounced Irving overrated, 00:16:14.610 --> 00:16:17.169 suggesting his charm was wearing thin. That must 00:16:17.169 --> 00:16:19.710 have been devastating for him. It was. This critical 00:16:19.710 --> 00:16:23.059 setback deeply winded him. He retreated entirely 00:16:23.059 --> 00:16:25.799 in Paris, spending the next year just scribbling 00:16:25.799 --> 00:16:28.159 down ideas that went nowhere, constantly worried 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:30.259 about his volatile financial situation. So that 00:16:30.259 --> 00:16:32.240 professional life he chose over the stability 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:34.720 of the Navy was proving to be intensely challenging. 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:37.220 Absolutely. And that period of depression and 00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:39.659 financial strain in Paris led directly to the 00:16:39.659 --> 00:16:42.679 next unexpected chapter of his career, one that 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:45.299 fundamentally reshaped his focus from fiction 00:16:45.299 --> 00:16:48.899 to history. Right. In January 1826, the American 00:16:48.899 --> 00:16:51.799 minister to Spain, Alexander Hill Everett, reached 00:16:51.799 --> 00:16:54.240 out to him. Everett had a very specific proposition. 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:58.000 He urged Irving to join him in Madrid, noting 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:00.320 that the Spanish archives were opening up, offering 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:02.679 fascinating new manuscripts about the Spanish 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:05.220 conquest of the Americas. And Irving, desperate 00:17:05.220 --> 00:17:07.819 for new material and a change of scenery, jumped 00:17:07.819 --> 00:17:10.759 at the chance. He moved to Madrid, got access 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:13.519 to the American consul's extensive library, and 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:16.430 just started scouring the Spanish archives. This 00:17:16.430 --> 00:17:19.049 wasn't just research. It was total immersion. 00:17:19.349 --> 00:17:21.490 He was determined to apply his narrative skill 00:17:21.490 --> 00:17:25.130 to deep historical subjects. And this exhaustive 00:17:25.130 --> 00:17:28.589 labor resulted in A History of the Life and Voyages 00:17:28.589 --> 00:17:31.829 of Christopher Columbus, published in 1828. Which 00:17:31.829 --> 00:17:34.150 was a massive popular success. It went through 00:17:34.150 --> 00:17:37.470 175 editions before the end of the century. And 00:17:37.470 --> 00:17:39.410 critically, it marked a professional evolution. 00:17:39.809 --> 00:17:42.009 It was the first project he published under his 00:17:42.009 --> 00:17:44.500 own name. He was signaling his transition from 00:17:44.500 --> 00:17:47.319 a satirical humorous to a serious man of letters. 00:17:47.500 --> 00:17:49.380 He followed that up with more historical work. 00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:51.640 Yeah. A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada 00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:55.220 in 1829 and Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions 00:17:55.220 --> 00:17:57.759 of Columbus in 1831. And his Spanish writings 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:00.940 really defined this new genre of romantic history. 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:04.119 It did. The genre was revolutionary because it 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:07.220 seamlessly blended deep archival research with 00:18:07.220 --> 00:18:09.920 highly imaginative story sharpening elements. 00:18:10.220 --> 00:18:13.319 He saw history as a narrative. and he was determined 00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:15.640 to make it compelling. This is where we uncover 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:18.480 one of his most profound and unintentionally 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:21.819 damaging cultural fingerprints. Yes. His Columbus 00:18:21.819 --> 00:18:24.579 biography is the undeniable source of the durable, 00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:28.079 persistent myth that medieval Europeans believed 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:30.119 the earth was flat. And that Columbus was the 00:18:30.119 --> 00:18:32.279 revolutionary genius who proved it was round. 00:18:32.460 --> 00:18:34.859 So wait, if he was doing meticulous historical 00:18:34.859 --> 00:18:38.380 research, how did he create that myth? It was 00:18:38.380 --> 00:18:40.630 a deliberate narrative choice. A bit of dramatic 00:18:40.630 --> 00:18:43.329 license. In his account of the Council of Salamanca, 00:18:43.470 --> 00:18:45.730 the scholars who advised the Spanish monarchs 00:18:45.730 --> 00:18:48.230 Irving amplified and fictionalized the opposition 00:18:48.230 --> 00:18:50.589 to Columbus's voyage. He basically invented a 00:18:50.589 --> 00:18:52.819 conflict to make the story better. Pretty much. 00:18:53.019 --> 00:18:56.099 He included this particularly antagonistic character 00:18:56.099 --> 00:18:59.819 who raises the flat earth objection, not because 00:18:59.819 --> 00:19:01.839 it was a major point of contention at the time, 00:19:01.880 --> 00:19:04.460 it wasn't most educated people knew the world 00:19:04.460 --> 00:19:06.599 was round, but because it heightened the drama. 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:09.460 He needed Columbus to be a heroic visionary battling 00:19:09.460 --> 00:19:12.420 ignorance. Exactly. And because the book was 00:19:12.420 --> 00:19:15.019 so popular, that fictional conflict was subsequently 00:19:15.019 --> 00:19:18.119 taught as historical fact to generations of Americans. 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:21.440 It just shows the immense power of his pen in 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:23.480 shaping national perception. It really does. 00:19:23.819 --> 00:19:26.160 Meanwhile, he was finding inspiration in his 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:29.759 actual surroundings. In 1829, he briefly lived 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:33.180 inside the Alhambra Palace in Granada. An amazing 00:19:33.180 --> 00:19:35.440 experience which resulted in his atmospheric 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:38.279 travelogue, Tales of the Alhambra, published 00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:41.920 in 1832. His success as a literary figure in 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:44.279 Spain quickly translated into diplomatic service. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:47.880 In 1829, he was appointed secretary to the American 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:50.240 legation in London. This was a serious post. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:52.519 He worked closely with Minister Louis Maclean, 00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:54.420 and together they negotiated a crucial trade 00:19:54.420 --> 00:19:56.279 agreement between the U .S. and the British West 00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:58.740 Indies. So he was no longer just a struggling 00:19:58.740 --> 00:20:01.480 writer. He was a high -level government functionary. 00:20:01.619 --> 00:20:04.740 And the accolades poured in. He received a medal 00:20:04.740 --> 00:20:07.279 from the Royal Society of Literature and an honorary 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:10.660 doctorate of civil law from Oxford in 1831. And 00:20:10.660 --> 00:20:12.960 when Minister Maclean was recalled, Irving stepped 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:16.279 up as the top diplomat. He did, as charge d 'affaires. 00:20:16.740 --> 00:20:19.779 And he showed his political acumen then. When 00:20:19.779 --> 00:20:22.960 the Senate, in a partisan move, refused to confirm 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:25.559 Martin Van Buren as the new minister, Irving 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:27.460 was there to console him. And he made a brilliant 00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:29.660 prediction. He told Van Buren that this vote 00:20:29.660 --> 00:20:32.420 would probably go far toward elevating him to 00:20:32.420 --> 00:20:34.740 the presidential chair. And he was right. The 00:20:34.740 --> 00:20:37.059 public backlash helped Van Buren win the presidency 00:20:37.059 --> 00:20:40.980 in 1836. So after a brief return home, his expertise 00:20:40.980 --> 00:20:43.319 in Spanish affairs made him the natural choice 00:20:43.319 --> 00:20:46.859 for a high political post. In 1842, President 00:20:46.859 --> 00:20:49.380 John Tyler appointed him U .S. minister to Spain. 00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:51.200 Irving hoped this posting would be relatively 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:53.000 quiet, you know, offering him financial stability 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:55.299 and time to write. But the reality was anything 00:20:55.299 --> 00:20:58.460 but comfortable. His tenure from 1842 to 1846 00:20:58.460 --> 00:21:01.180 was dominated by intense political upheaval. 00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:06.039 Spain was in chaos. Complete chaos. Warring factions 00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:08.559 were constantly vying for control of the young 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:11.759 Queen Isabella II, who was only 12 when he arrived. 00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:14.539 He was exhausted by the relentless politicking. 00:21:14.619 --> 00:21:16.859 Oh, absolutely. He confessed in his letters, 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:19.720 I am wearied and at times heartsick of the wretched 00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:21.819 politics of this country. And he wrote a really 00:21:21.819 --> 00:21:24.079 devastating passage about how it had changed 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:27.420 him. Yeah, he said, the last 10 or 12 years of 00:21:27.420 --> 00:21:30.339 my life has shown me so much of the dark side 00:21:30.339 --> 00:21:32.839 of human nature that I begin to have painful 00:21:32.839 --> 00:21:36.150 doubts of my fellow man. Wow. It reveals the 00:21:36.150 --> 00:21:38.710 cost of turning the romantic writer into a jaded 00:21:38.710 --> 00:21:41.130 political operative. It does. His duties were 00:21:41.130 --> 00:21:44.369 immense. He was monitoring trade with Cuba, debates 00:21:44.369 --> 00:21:47.049 over the slave trade, and even helping negotiate 00:21:47.049 --> 00:21:49.630 the Oregon border dispute with Britain. He was 00:21:49.630 --> 00:21:51.849 a high -level troubleshooter, a world away from 00:21:51.849 --> 00:21:54.130 Jeffrey Coran. Irving finally returned to New 00:21:54.130 --> 00:21:57.109 York in September 1832, after 17 years abroad. 00:21:57.569 --> 00:22:00.609 He was a celebrity, but he was also culturally 00:22:00.609 --> 00:22:02.950 disconnected. Right. He knew he needed to prove 00:22:02.950 --> 00:22:05.420 his American credentials again. So he immediately 00:22:05.420 --> 00:22:07.460 addressed the criticism that he'd become too 00:22:07.460 --> 00:22:10.099 European by embarking on a tour of the American 00:22:10.099 --> 00:22:12.839 frontier. He went with the Commissioner on Indian 00:22:12.839 --> 00:22:15.859 Affairs deep into what's now Oklahoma. This trip 00:22:15.859 --> 00:22:18.019 provided the material for a tour on the prairies 00:22:18.019 --> 00:22:21.539 published in 1835. And this was a crucial book, 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:23.539 his first written and published in the U .S. 00:22:23.539 --> 00:22:26.980 since 1809. This shift to Western subjects was 00:22:26.980 --> 00:22:29.960 a very calculated move. It was. He followed it 00:22:29.960 --> 00:22:32.779 with two other Western books, Astoria and The 00:22:32.779 --> 00:22:34.819 Adventures of Captain Bonneville. And these were 00:22:34.819 --> 00:22:37.400 a direct response to critics like James Fenimore 00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:39.720 Cooper, who argued that his time in Europe had 00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:42.220 made him more European than American. Exactly. 00:22:42.220 --> 00:22:44.279 He was determined to show he was still rooted 00:22:44.279 --> 00:22:46.960 in American subject matter. And it was a successful 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:49.359 strategy at home. But the old tension remained. 00:22:49.779 --> 00:22:52.380 British critics often dismissed these later works 00:22:52.380 --> 00:22:56.230 as just. The economic imperative was now inseparable 00:22:56.230 --> 00:22:58.849 from the artistic one. Which brings us to his 00:22:58.849 --> 00:23:02.410 home, Sunnyside. Yes. In 1835, he purchased a 00:23:02.410 --> 00:23:04.990 neglected cottage in Tarrytown, which he continually 00:23:04.990 --> 00:23:08.869 renovated and named Sunnyside in 1841. This home 00:23:08.869 --> 00:23:11.970 was his retreat and his identity. But the costs 00:23:11.970 --> 00:23:14.509 kept escalating, demanding more income. Which 00:23:14.509 --> 00:23:16.809 is why he reluctantly agreed to become a regular 00:23:16.809 --> 00:23:19.349 paid contributor to the Knickerbocker magazine 00:23:19.349 --> 00:23:23.019 starting in 1839. He had to resurrect his old 00:23:23.019 --> 00:23:26.140 pseudonyms just to generate cash flow. The fact 00:23:26.140 --> 00:23:28.740 that the first great American author had to constantly 00:23:28.740 --> 00:23:32.279 hustle says so much about the economic realities 00:23:32.279 --> 00:23:34.839 of the profession. It really does. But he also 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:37.619 became a huge advocate for other writers. He 00:23:37.619 --> 00:23:39.759 corresponded with figures like Edgar Allan Poe 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:42.740 and championed stronger U .S. copyright laws. 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:45.099 And he secured a massive financial victory for 00:23:45.099 --> 00:23:47.539 himself, setting a new standard for author compensation. 00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:50.619 Yes, that deal with the publisher George Palmer 00:23:50.619 --> 00:23:53.420 Putnam for his author's revised edition guaranteed 00:23:53.420 --> 00:23:56.059 him 12 % of the retail price of all copies sold. 00:23:56.220 --> 00:23:58.240 That was revolutionary for an author in that 00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:00.720 era. As he was managing his old works, he returned 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:03.299 to serious biography. He did, publishing Lives 00:24:03.299 --> 00:24:06.559 of Oliver Goldsmith and, remarkably, the Islamic 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:09.140 prophet Muhammad. It just shows the breadth of 00:24:09.140 --> 00:24:11.440 his scholarly interests. But the true capstone 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:13.859 of his life was the subject closest to his heart. 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:17.099 He completed his five -volume biography of his 00:24:17.099 --> 00:24:20.220 namesake. The Life of George Washington. He finished 00:24:20.220 --> 00:24:24.140 it between 1855 and 1859. He had been blessed 00:24:24.140 --> 00:24:27.000 by the man at age six, and he dedicated his last 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:29.240 years to honoring the first president. He died 00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:31.539 of a heart attack at Sunnyside on November 28, 00:24:31.819 --> 00:24:36.099 1859 at age 76, just eight months after completing 00:24:36.099 --> 00:24:39.000 the final volume. He's buried in Sleepy Hollow 00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:41.839 Cemetery. where he was memorialized by Henry 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:44.539 Wadsworth Longfellow in a powerful poem that 00:24:44.539 --> 00:24:47.359 spoke of Irving leaving a grief and gladness 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:49.680 in the atmosphere. Moving beyond the literature 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:52.259 and diplomacy, the most astonishing part of this 00:24:52.259 --> 00:24:54.720 is realizing how many core details of American 00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:57.400 culture trace directly back to Washington Irving's 00:24:57.400 --> 00:24:59.259 creative decisions. The impact is everywhere. 00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:01.740 Let's just start with language. Irving is credited 00:25:01.740 --> 00:25:04.559 with inventing the expression, the almighty dollar. 00:25:04.759 --> 00:25:06.660 Which is perfect, coming from the author who 00:25:06.660 --> 00:25:08.500 constantly struggled to earn enough money from 00:25:08.500 --> 00:25:11.500 his writing. The irony is just perfect. And then 00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:14.359 there's Christmas. If you picture a cozy, traditional, 00:25:14.619 --> 00:25:18.619 idealized English Christmas roaring fires, Carolyn 00:25:18.619 --> 00:25:21.440 Irving is largely responsible for importing and 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:24.180 popularizing that exact vision in the United 00:25:24.180 --> 00:25:26.759 States. He's the architect of the modern American 00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:30.200 secular Christmas. Absolutely. His five Christmas 00:25:30.200 --> 00:25:33.220 stories in the sketchbook presented this idealized, 00:25:33.220 --> 00:25:35.539 traditional English Christmas. And this was a 00:25:35.539 --> 00:25:37.880 direct contrast to how the holiday was celebrated 00:25:37.880 --> 00:25:40.579 in post -revolutionary America. How is it different 00:25:40.579 --> 00:25:42.960 had it been abandoned? In many places, yeah. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:45.519 Following the Puritan tradition, Christmas celebrations 00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:48.380 had been subdued or even banned in large parts 00:25:48.380 --> 00:25:50.960 of the Northeast. Even after the bans were lifted, 00:25:51.140 --> 00:25:53.900 the holiday was often chaotic, marked by rowdy, 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:56.240 drunken public gatherings. So Irving's vision 00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:58.559 was domestic, family -centered, and nostalgic. 00:25:59.430 --> 00:26:03.289 Exactly. He created a blueprint for a genteel, 00:26:03.289 --> 00:26:06.049 non -controversial holiday focused on goodwill 00:26:06.049 --> 00:26:09.089 and cozy interiors. And that blueprint was adopted 00:26:09.089 --> 00:26:11.609 wholesale. Without Irving's five stories, the 00:26:11.609 --> 00:26:13.349 American perception of the holiday would look 00:26:13.349 --> 00:26:16.490 fundamentally different. It would. And his fictional 00:26:16.490 --> 00:26:19.710 geography is now real geography. There are towns 00:26:19.710 --> 00:26:23.339 named after him, like Irving, Texas. And in the 00:26:23.339 --> 00:26:26.140 ultimate homage, the village of North Tarrytown 00:26:26.140 --> 00:26:28.880 officially changed its name to Sleepy Hollow 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:32.960 in 1996. Purely to honor him and capitalize on 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:35.440 the story's popularity, his narratives created 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:37.799 the first widely recognized American folklore 00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:40.539 that was rich enough to inspire generations of 00:26:40.539 --> 00:26:42.680 American artists. So looking back at this enormous 00:26:42.680 --> 00:26:45.259 body of work, he's overwhelmingly credited as 00:26:45.259 --> 00:26:47.500 the first American man of letters. And maybe 00:26:47.500 --> 00:26:49.960 more importantly, the first American writer to 00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:53.700 earn his living solely by his pen. He professionalized 00:26:53.700 --> 00:26:55.740 the entire writing career in the United States. 00:26:55.859 --> 00:26:58.019 And his contemporaries recognized that. Henry 00:26:58.019 --> 00:27:00.480 Wadsworth Longfellow said he was the first to 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:02.599 win for our country an honorable name and position 00:27:02.599 --> 00:27:05.259 in the history of letters. He put American writing 00:27:05.259 --> 00:27:07.640 on the international map. He also perfected the 00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:09.660 American short story. Before Irving, a lot of 00:27:09.660 --> 00:27:12.180 American writing was didactic, focused on morals. 00:27:12.440 --> 00:27:15.380 Irving broke that mold. He wrote primarily to 00:27:15.380 --> 00:27:17.259 entertain. But this is where we need to slow 00:27:17.259 --> 00:27:19.559 down and consider the friction. Because while 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:21.880 everyone respected him as the pioneer, not everyone 00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:23.900 agreed on the actual quality of the writing. 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:27.240 And that's the crux of the literary debate. The 00:27:27.240 --> 00:27:29.779 skeptic in chief was Edgar Allan Poe. Right. 00:27:29.960 --> 00:27:33.619 In 1838, Poe wrote a critique arguing that Irving 00:27:33.619 --> 00:27:37.490 was much overrated. Poe valued technical precision 00:27:37.490 --> 00:27:40.769 and psychological depth above all else. So he 00:27:40.769 --> 00:27:42.950 was arguing that we should separate the credit 00:27:42.950 --> 00:27:45.970 due to the pioneer solely from the credit due 00:27:45.970 --> 00:27:48.569 to the actual writing. Exactly. He was implying 00:27:48.569 --> 00:27:50.970 the writing itself was light, that it lacked 00:27:50.970 --> 00:27:53.970 sophistication or profanity. It was a critique 00:27:53.970 --> 00:27:56.339 of substance versus style. And he also faced 00:27:56.339 --> 00:27:58.099 criticism that he was just an American author 00:27:58.099 --> 00:28:00.339 writing for English tastes. Yeah, critics like 00:28:00.339 --> 00:28:02.660 John Neal dismissed him as a poor copy of the 00:28:02.660 --> 00:28:05.180 English writer Oliver Goldsmith, claiming he 00:28:05.180 --> 00:28:07.519 wrote of and for England rather than his own 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:09.799 country. That must have stung, especially after 00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:12.299 he tried so hard to prove his American bona fides. 00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:15.200 So how did his defenders frame his work? They 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:18.960 reframed his style as a strength. William McPeace 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:21.619 Thackeray, the famous English novelist, was the 00:28:21.619 --> 00:28:24.759 first to call Irving the ambassador whom the 00:28:24.759 --> 00:28:27.599 new world of letters sent to the old. He was 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:30.539 the bridge. He was the bridge. They argued that 00:28:30.539 --> 00:28:32.759 his ability to blend European polish with American 00:28:32.759 --> 00:28:36.099 subject matter was precisely his value. He wasn't 00:28:36.099 --> 00:28:39.420 just imitating, he was fusing. In later generations, 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:41.539 though, the critiques often came back to the 00:28:41.539 --> 00:28:44.400 idea that he lacked a grand theme. The famous 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:47.460 line was, the man had no message. He was viewed 00:28:47.460 --> 00:28:50.059 as a charming entertainer who was maybe just 00:28:50.059 --> 00:28:52.960 fortunate in his timing. But that view has changed, 00:28:53.019 --> 00:28:56.059 hasn't it? Oh, significantly. More recent scholarship 00:28:56.059 --> 00:28:57.920 has seen a major resurgence in his reputation, 00:28:58.160 --> 00:29:01.079 particularly as a historian. Scholars now deeply 00:29:01.079 --> 00:29:03.559 respect his biographies, Columbus Historia, The 00:29:03.559 --> 00:29:05.140 Life of George Washington for their reliability 00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:07.759 and literary skill. So we now appreciate that 00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:09.859 he established the groundwork for blending rigorous 00:29:09.859 --> 00:29:12.559 research with compelling narrative. Exactly. 00:29:12.579 --> 00:29:15.259 He gave America its history not just in facts, 00:29:15.259 --> 00:29:18.660 but in stories. So what does this all mean? Washington 00:29:18.660 --> 00:29:22.079 Irving's career, I mean, from satirical pseudonyms 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:25.960 to solemn diplomacy. It just shows the intense 00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:28.319 friction in establishing a national literature. 00:29:28.680 --> 00:29:31.180 It really does. He spent his life struggling 00:29:31.180 --> 00:29:34.079 between defining an authentic American voice 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:36.859 while also trying to appeal to international 00:29:36.859 --> 00:29:40.240 acclaim. And he constantly navigated that tension 00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:43.319 between being a pioneer and being judged by those 00:29:43.319 --> 00:29:46.319 who came after him. Irving's life perfectly exemplifies 00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:48.460 the complexity of managing a public intellectual 00:29:48.460 --> 00:29:51.759 career while navigating massive personal and 00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:54.619 financial upheaval. He was constantly creating 00:29:54.619 --> 00:29:57.180 history and myth, all while just trying to keep 00:29:57.180 --> 00:29:58.880 his head above water financially. It all came 00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:01.200 back to money. Right. His career was defined 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:03.400 by the relentless economic realities of writing. 00:30:03.539 --> 00:30:06.599 The bankruptcy, the copyright battles, the need 00:30:06.599 --> 00:30:08.900 for diplomatic posts to fund his home and his 00:30:08.900 --> 00:30:11.259 writing. Which raises an important question for 00:30:11.259 --> 00:30:13.940 you, the learner, to consider. Considering Irving 00:30:13.940 --> 00:30:15.900 was constantly driven by financial necessity 00:30:15.900 --> 00:30:18.660 to write across all possible genres, and he actually 00:30:18.660 --> 00:30:21.519 helped invent the expression, the almighty dollar. 00:30:22.009 --> 00:30:24.089 How might he have viewed the modern necessity 00:30:24.089 --> 00:30:26.730 for authors and creators to monetize their work 00:30:26.730 --> 00:30:29.250 across multiple platforms, stories, histories, 00:30:29.569 --> 00:30:31.789 travelogues, biographies, film rights, digital 00:30:31.789 --> 00:30:35.190 content, simply to afford their home? Wow. Was 00:30:35.190 --> 00:30:37.890 the pioneer of American letters simply the pioneer 00:30:37.890 --> 00:30:40.390 of the American content creator? Bound forever 00:30:40.390 --> 00:30:42.130 to the necessity of the almighty dollar.