ThequintessentialAmericanwriter,WashingtonIrvingemergedasthecountry’sfirstpopularauthorwithsuchbelovednineteenth-centuryshortstoriesas“TheLegendofSleepyHollow“and“RipVanWinkle.“ThesehighlyentertainingfictionmasterpiecesrevealIrving’suniquemasteryatportrayingthelandscapesandcultureofearlyAmerica.ThismodestlypricededitionincludesbothoftheseIrvinglandmarks,aswellasotheracclaimedshortworksbythefamousessayist,travelwriter,biographer,andhistorian:-“TheSpectreBridegroom“-“TheDevilandTomWalker“-“TheWife“-“WestminsterAbbey“-“Mountjoy“-“AdventureoftheMysteriousStranger“andfiveotherclassics.Filledwithsatire,pathos,andpicturesqueobservations,theseremarkablestoriesareimportantfoundationsoftheAmericanliterarytradition.
