Washington Irving (1783–1859) was the first American writer to become famous in Europe — proof, when the young republic badly wanted it, that the New World could produce literature. Trained as a lawyer, he found his real career in satire and sketches, publishing The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. while living in England.
That one book contains both "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," and with them the beginnings of the American short story: Old World folklore transplanted into Hudson Valley soil, told with an urbane wink that lets the reader choose between the supernatural and the explainable. Irving later served as U.S. Minister to Spain, but it is the Headless Horseman who keeps his name alive.
