The Works of Washington Irving: The Autograph Edition [The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; Rip Van Winkle].
$7,800 · Offered by Biblio
First edition · Signed
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1895–97. The Works of Washington Irving: The Author's Autograph edition. Octavo, 40 volumes, uniformly bound in full morocco by the Knickerbocker Press, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, with suede doublures and endleaves. One of 500 sets, this set contains a page of original manuscript by Irving tipped in to volume one of The Alhambra. In fine condition. An exceptional set. Washington Irving was a novelist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820), both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of George Washington, Oliver Goldsmith, and Muhammad, and several histories of 15th-century Spain dealing with subjects such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors and the Alhambra. Irving served as the U.S. ambassador to Spain from 1842 to 1846. Shortly after completing a biography of Christopher Columbus in 1828, Washington Irving traveled from Madrid, where he had been staying, to Granada, Spain. At first sight, he described it as "a most picturesque and beautiful city, situated in one of the loveliest landscapes that I have ever seen." Irving was preparing a book called A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada, a history of the years 1478–1492, and was continuing his research on the topic. He immediately asked the then-governor
- Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
- Year: 1895
- Edition: First Edition
- Binding: unknown
Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.