The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was one of the first American writers to achieve lasting fame both in the United States and abroad. He is best remembered for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, stories that combined gentle satire, gothic mystery, and a deep love of folklore. Born in New York City, the youngest of eleven children, Irving was named after George Washington, whom he once met as a child. He trained as a lawyer but found his passion in travel and writing. He lived for many years in Europe—especially in England and Spain—where he worked as a diplomat and wrote biographies of Christopher Columbus and the Prophet Muhammad, among others. Irving never married. He once fell in love with Matilda Hoffman, who died young; he mourned her for the rest of his life and remained devoted to her memory. Later in life, he returned to New York and settled at his estate, Sunnyside, along the Hudson River. He continued writing well into his seventies. He died peacefully at home at the age of 76 and was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, near the landscape he helped make legendary. Irving's legacy lives on in the humor, grace, and quiet eeriness of his stories—tales that still speak to the imagination centuries later.