The American romanticist has been shaped in Europe, where he had stayed for about 17 years. Washington Irving surely was a gentle satirist who was master of a graceful, sophisticated style, he created some of the most popular essays and tales in American literature. Irving’s reputation at home and abroad was established with the essays in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1820), including such tales as Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The book became part of New York folklore, and eventually the word “Knickerbocker” was also used to describe any New Yorker who could trace one’s family to the original Dutch settlers.
The name Knickerbocker was later used to identify the first American school of writers, the “Knickerbocker Group”, of which Irving was a leading figure. Dietrich Knickerbocker was supposed to be an eccentric Dutch-American scholar. Under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker Washington Irving wrote A History of New York (1809), perhaps America's first great book of comic literature. His contributions helped to create America's romantic literary movement. He also had a way of combining folklore with romanticism in his literary works. In addition, Irving helped establish the short story as a popular literature for the United States. Irving’s early works set an example for humorous writing, which later became an important part of American literature. Instead, he had this to say, "If the tales I have furnished should prove to be bad, they will at least be found short". Later authors learned from and fashioned their short stories after his works. Washington Irving earned his reputation as a major author by creating the short story.
The main interest here will be his life which was too interesting, influential and lively to ignore and Irving’s motivation to write The Tales about The Alhambra.
This piece of work deals especially with one of Irving’s most famous books, The Alhambra, a great Moorish castle in Granada, Spain. He often wrote about the places he visited. Irving enjoyed visiting different places and a large part of his live he spent in Europe, particularly England, France, Germany and Spain. To the inspiration of native themes, Irving owed much of his ample success. It is Washington Irving who belongs the honour of successfully developing a native literature in works which still preserve their freshness, their delicacy, and their charm. Washington Irving was the first among American writers to obtain universal recognition abroad, he was the first true literary artist and the earliest “classic”.
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