Washington Irving

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics. 'There was a contagion in the very air that blew from that haunted region; it breathed forth an atmosphere of dreams and fancies infecting all the land.' Featuring 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' and 'Rip Van Winkle', this collection of inspired essays, stories and sketches established Washington Irving's reputation as one of America's foremost authors. Irving's timeless characters, including Ichabod Crane, Rip Van Winkle and the headless Hessian trooper, jostle for space alongside 31 equally atmospheric and lyrical works in this haunting anthology from one of America's most distinctive literary voices.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories

With his beloved Gothic tales, Washington Irving is said to have created the genre of the short story in America. Though Irving crafted many of the most memorable characters in fiction, from Rip Van Winkle to Ichabod Crane, his gifts were not confined to the short story alone. He was also a master of satire, essay, travelogue, and folktale, as evidenced in this classic collection. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, "Every reader has a first book.... which, in early youth, first fascinates his imagination, and at once excites and satisfies the desires of his mind. To me, this first book was The Sketch Book of Washington Irving... The charm of The Sketch Book remains unbroken; the old fascination still lingers about it."

Irving's expression of his passion for his adventures is touching. It rings true within me too. 

Books of voyages and travels became my passion, and in devouring their contents I neglected the regular exercises of the school. How wistfully would I wander about the pier heads in fine weather, and watch the parting ships, bound to distant climes. With what longing eyes would I gaze after their lessening sails, and waft myself in imagination to the ends of the earth.

In Irving's great work, The Sketch Book, fictional historian Diedrich Knickerbocker introduces us to Rip van Winkle, the Dutch colonist who slept through the Revolutionary War; Ichabod Crane, the superstitious, social-climbing schoolmaster; and the pumpkin-topped Headless Horseman, ancestor to countless horror film antiheroes. In addition to 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' and 'Rip Van Winkle', The Sketch Book touches on cultural and historical concerns that remain compelling, thanks to Irving's modern outlook and impressive foresight. This new edition, with an introduction from Elizabeth L. Bradley, demonstrates how inextricably Irving's writings are woven into the fabric of American culture - high and low.

Colton Ray

Of course Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle are great tales and fine examples of American literature. I also thoroughly enjoyed his Christmas stories and they really put me in the mood for the season. The rest of the stories were rather unremarkable and unmemorable.

Vivid descriptions, amazing storytelling. Perfect read for fall. 

Jovana Gjekanovikj 

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories by an American writer Washington Irving. The story is set in the end of the 18th century in the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town, called Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod Crane, a lean, lanky and extremely superstitious teacher from Connecticut competes with Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt for the hand of 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and sole child of a wealthy farmer, Baltus Van Tassel. One autumn night, when Ichabod was returning from the party at the Van Tassels' homestead, he was followed by a rider without a head. Presumably, it was a ghost of Hessian cavalryman, who had been beheaded by a stray shot in one of the “unnamed battles” during the War of Independence (USA) and after that “rode during the night in a search of his head”…

The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories

Irving has a knack for creating rich scenery and using the senses to bring a story to life. This is one of my favorite short ghost stories, though it’s a bit long winded (usual for me to feel this way about classic novels), so I tend to skim through some of the paragraphs to get to the good parts. 

Floofyflower

Erin 

I don't know how I have lived 26 years on this Earth, and my path has only crossed with Washington Irving's writing until now. Better late than never, but I mourn the time that I did not spend reading his stories. They're lyrical and poetic, and I could easily find myself transported into the setting, as if I was experiencing it myself. Every time I read a new one, I was blown away by how much I fell desperately in love. Not everything aged well, and there were a few stories that were pretty offensive to indigenous peoples, but I do feel like that chalks up to the time period this was written. Not excusable, but explainable. I will definitely be reading this again, or at the very least rereading my favourites, throughout the rest of my life.

The Voyage: 5 stars. The highest a short story collection has ever started for me! I think I’m going to like this collection a lot.
Roscoe: 4 stars
The Wife: 5 stars
Rip Van Winkle: 5 stars. I used to have a picture book version of this as a child. The full short story feels so familiar yet new.
English Writers on America: 4 stars
Rural Life in England: 3.5 stars
The Broken Heart: 4 stars
The Art of Bookmaking: 5 stars
A Royal Poet: 3.5 stars
The Country Church: 4 stars
The Widow and Her Son: 2.5 stars
A Sunday in London: 3.5 stars
The Boar’s Head Tavern, East Cheap: 2 stars
The Mutability of Literature: 5 stars
Rural Funerals: 4.5 stars
The Inn Kitchen: 5 stars
The Spectre Bridegroom: 5 stars. I think The Spectre Bridegroom might be the most perfect story that has ever been written.
Westminster Abbey: 4.5 stars
Christmas: 3.5 stars
The Stage Coach: 3 stars
Christmas Eve: 3 stars. Would have been lovely to read actually during Christmas, but alas, the stars did not align.
Christmas Day: 4 stars
The Christmas Dinner: 3 stars. I really liked how the last three stories were all connected, but I was also ready to move on.
London Antiques:
Little Britain: 5 stars
Stratford-on-Avon: 5 stars. This one in particular was amazing at making you feel like you were actually there with both the author and Shakespeare. Also, it made me miss it terribly, although I visited it once a decade ago.
Traits of Indian Character: 2 stars. I think Irving was trying to defend indigenous people, but it didn't really come across that way. Definitely one of the stories that didn't age well. 
Philip of Pokanoket: 2 stars. More harmful depictions of Native Americans.
John Bull: 3 stars
The Pride of the Village: 3 stars
The Angler: 4 stars. Trust Washington Irving to make even fishing sound poetic.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: 5 giant, full stars. What a phenomenal story. It's perfect in every way.
L'Envoy: A bit of a strange one to end off after the titular story.

Don’t lose your head! The Headless Horseman faces off with Ichabod Crane in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," a ghost story of enduring popularity that takes place at the time of the American Revolution. "Rip Van Winkle," another traditional favorite from the same historic period, tells the tale of man who fell asleep for twenty years and found his small town in the Catskill Mountains much changed by the time he awakened. Both are included—along with many other tales—in this classic collection by Washington Irving.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Tales

Manon van Heumen

I am not a big fan of short stories, and this book was no exception. The stories were too descriptive for me to enjoy them.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories, also known as The Sketch Book, is a collection of 34 essays and short stories written by American author Washington Irving. It was published serially throughout 1819 and 1820. The collection includes two of Irving's best-known stories, attributed to the fictional Dutch historian Diedrich Knickerbocker, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle." The Sketch Book was the first widely read work of American literature in Britain and Europe. It also helped advance the reputation of American writers with an international audience. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle" were the pieces which made both Irving and The Sketch Book famous. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is among the earliest examples of American fiction with enduring popularity, especially during the Halloween season. This cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is limited to 100 copies.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories

Reviews

Highlights