Second Period of Writing

The following seventeen years Irving travelled and worked in various European countries. Though he remained true to the rational trend of thought, Irving, with an ironical smile, retreated from the present into the romantic past. His love of the past was a sort of rest from the cares of life. At first he thought of describing American picturesque landscapes. But this did not satisfy Irving.

When Irving retold his various anecdotes of the past, his mind was on contemporary America and the problems American people had to cope with after the Revolution. He knew what calamity the "almighty dollar" had brought and he hated the greed of the bourgeoisie. By restoring anecdotes of the past he wanted to cure the world by wisdom.

Irving did not feel a stranger in Britain. He met the poets Coleridge and Byron, both of whom delighted in his "Knicker-bocker". Walter Scott invited him to his home, in Abbotsford. He acquainted Irving with the works by German romantic writers. Irving was a lover pf pageantry and he liked the gay world of the theatre. Ever cheerful, gentle, cordial, modest and sincere, Irving was popular in ali circles, even in political circles.

It was during this European period of his life that Irving wrote books which brought him international fame. In these were his famous essays and romances. With the help of Walter Scott he published in 1819 the first collection of his writings "The Sketch Book", in 1822 "Bracebridge Hall”, and in 1824 "Tales of a Traveller". This collection ends with a very famous tale "Rip Van Winkle". It is the story of a "simple good-natured fellow" who falls asleep in the mountains and wakes up 20 years later. All the changes which Rip finds in the mountains on his awakening describe America after the Revolution In an entertaining way.

Irving had studied German, Italian and French. In 1824, he travelled on the continent. He collected tales and legends in all the villages and towns of Europe in which he happened to stop. He won the confidence of every old woman who had tales to tell. For elderly gentlemen, he was a tale-telling traveller because he liked to relate his stories to willing listeners, to judge their effect on people before he printed them. Irving picked up stories of all kinds: robber tales, tales of ghosts, horror stories with mysterious footsteps in the night and the like.

Some of Irving's works of this European period were written in Spain. In 1826 Irving went to Madrid as a member of an Amer­ican diplomatic mission. His post gave him access to old Spanish documents. Having collected enough material, he wrote a “History of Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus" (1828), and "The Conquest of Granada" (1829). In Spain, he met Prince Dolgorukov who was Attache to the Russian Ambassador. Irv­ing made friends with him.

Irving wrote as much for America as for Europe. In Europe his books were enjoyed for their humour, beautiful style.

Third Period of Writing

After seventeen years abroad, Irving returned to America wishing to portray his country again. In “A Tour of the Prairies” (1833) he showed sympathy for the Indians.

Irving, jealous of his freedom, refused to run for Mayor of New York. He made his home in a place in his beloved valley of the Hudson River, where he wrote "Life of George Washing­ton". He died in 1859.