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    A Thorough Presentation of Washington Irving’s Sketch Book
    A Thorough Presentation of Washington Irving’s Sketch Book
    A Thorough Presentation of Washington Irving’s Sketch Book
    Ebook61 pages44 minutes

    A Thorough Presentation of Washington Irving’s Sketch Book

    By Daniel Zimmermann

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    About this ebook

    This e-book briefly relates the stories of Rip van Winkel and Ichabod Crane, but treats the reader to other lesser known articles by Washington Irving recorded in his Sketch Book. We visit Westminster Abbey. We look for the Boar’s Head Tavern. We travel to Stratford-on-Avon for memorabilia on Shakespeare. We read about an English widow who dies of broken heart and a beautiful English maiden who refused to sin with the man she loved. We learn about James I of Scotland, a royal poet. On Christmas Eve, the Lord of misrule causes an abundance of mirth. John Bull provides a caricature of the English nation. A couple selections explain the woes of native Americans. A wife brings comfort to a husband who suffered financial ruin. A cripples soldier consoles himself with angling. An old book starts to talk, complaining that no one has read it for many years. Irving wonders whether or not he was daydreaming.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLulu.com
    Release dateApr 17, 2020
    ISBN9781716035340
    A Thorough Presentation of Washington Irving’s Sketch Book

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      Book preview

      A Thorough Presentation of Washington Irving’s Sketch Book - Daniel Zimmermann

      A Thorough Presentation of Washington Irving’s Sketch Book

      A Thorough Presentation of Washington Irving’s Sketch Book

      By Daniel Zimmermann

      The Author’s Account of Himself

      Washington Irving was one of the first American authors to achieve lasting literary fame. He was an older contemporary of Edgar Allan Poe and enjoyed a considerably longer life than his compatriot. He was born in 1783 and he died in 1859.

      The full title of his sketch book is The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. As most of you realize, Geoffrey Crayon is a pseudonym. The real author is Washington Irving. In the following exposition, all quotations are from the revised edition of Irving's work.

      Geoffrey tells us that he was always interested in travel. Even when he was a little child, he liked to explore his native city. As he grew older, his travels extended to the nearby countryside. He made himself familiar with all its places famous in history or fable, and he knew every spot where a murder or robbery had been committed or a ghost seen.

      One day he became bold enough to climb a distant hill from which he could see far and wide. He was surprised to learn how big the world was.

      As he continued to grow, he began to satisfy his insatiable desire for travel by reading about distant lands. He became especially enthralled by the glories of Europe. As a result, when it became possible for him to travel by sea, that is where he decided to go.

      The Voyage

      As Geoffrey began his sea voyage, he made the following observation: As I saw the last blue line of my native land fade away like a cloud in the horizon, it seemed to me as if I had closed one volume of the world and its concerns, and had time for meditation before I opened another.

      He did not see much during the voyage, but his mind was at work. His fertile imagination populated the golden clouds with fairies. If he saw a grampus or a shark, he would think about all that he had heard or read about the denizens of the deep.

      On one occasion, his ship passed a sail that was floating on the water. The result was predictable. In Geoffrey’s words, The sight of this wreck, as usual, gave rise to many dismal anecdotes. This was particularly the case in the evening when the weather, which had hitherto been fair, began to look wild and threatening, and gave indication of one of those sudden storms which will sometimes break in upon the serenity of a summer voyage. As we sat round the dull light of a lamp in the cabin, that made the gloom more ghastly, every one had his tale of shipwreck and disaster.

      As the night progressed, the weather became more and more stormy. However, the ship survived, and the next morning the danger was past.

      The ship reached Liverpool, England, without further incident. An expectant crowd had assembled to greet friends and relatives, but Geoffrey found himself alone in a strange land.

      Roscoe

      In Liverpool, Geoffrey met one of the city’s famous sons: an author named Roscoe. He was a historian famous for his work on the Medici of Florence, Italy.

      After achieving fame, Roscoe turned the whole force of his talents and influence to advance and embellish his native town.

      Irving, or rather Geoffrey, does not tell us any details. Instead, he describes Roscoe’s efforts poetically: "Mr. Roscoe … has shut himself up in no garden of thought nor elysium of fancy; but he has gone forth into the highways and thoroughfares of life; he has planted bowers by the wayside for the refreshment of the pilgrim and

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