WASHINGTON IRVING, a distinguished American author, was born in the city of New York, April 3rd, 1783. He was the youngest son of William Irving, who emigrated from Scotland, and settled in New York as a merchant, before the revolution. Washington Irving, at the age of sixteen, entered a law office; but he profited largely by his father's well-stocked library, Chaucer and Spenser being his favorite authors. New York, at this period, was a town of about 50,000 inhabitants, many of whom were descendants of the original Dutch settlers, having quaint manners and customs, of which Irving was a curious observer. In 1804, with the excuse of a tendency to pulmonary disease, he visited and travelled extensively in Europe; returned to New York in 1807, and contributed a series of general and humorous essays to a periodical called Salmagundi. In 1809, he wrote "A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker," a burlesque chronicle, written in so quiet a vein of humor, that it has sometimes been taken for veritable history. Having no inclination for law, he engaged in commerce with his brother, as a silent partner, but devoted his time to literature, and in 1813 edited the Analectic Magazine, in Philadelphia. At the close of the war in 1815, he visited England, where he was warmly welcomed by Campbell, whose biography he had formerly written, and was introduced by him to Walter Scott. While he was enjoying his English visit, his commercial house failed, and he was suddenly reduced to poverty, and the necessity of writing for his bread. The Sketch Book, portions of which had appeared in New York, was offered to Murray, and afterwards to Constable, but was refused by both of these celebrated publishers. After an unsuccessful attempt of the author to publish it on his own account, Murray, on Scott's recommendation, took the Sketch-book, paying £200 pounds for the copyright, which he afterwards increased to £400, It had a charm in its beauty and freshness, and was a surprise as the work of an American, and was therefore received with great favor. Irving went to Paris, and in 1822 wrote Bracebridge Hall, and in 1824 the Tales of a Traveller. He was invited by Everett, the American ambassador to Spain, to accompany him to Madrid, to translate documents connected with the life of Columbus. With these materials, he wrote his History of the Life and Voyages of Columbus (1828); Voyages of the Companions of Columbus, The Conquest of Granada; The Alhambra (1832), a portion of which was written in the ancient palace of the Moorish kings; Legends of the Conquest of Spain (1835); and Mahomet and His Successors (1849). In 1829, Irving returned to England as secretary to the American legation. In 1831, he received the honorary degree of L.L.D. from the university of Oxford, and next year returned to America, where he was received with enthusiasm. A visit to the Rocky Mountains produced his Tour on the Prairies. He also contributed sketches of Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey to the Crayon Miscellany, and from the papers of John Jacob Astor, wrote Astoria (1837),and the Adventures of Captain Bonneville; also a series of stories and essays in the Knickerbocker Magazine, collected under the title of Wolferts's Roost. In 1842, he was appointed minister to Spain. In 1846, was published his Life of Goldsmith, and his great work, The Life of Washington, was published in 1855-1859. An edition of his works in fifteen volumes, reached a sale of 250,000 volumes. He spent the last years of his life at Sunnyside, in his own "Sleepy Hollow," on the banks of the Hudson, near Tarrytown, with his neices, where he died suddenly of disease of the heart, November 28th,1859. He was never married.