Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer, and historian born on April 3, 1783, in New York City. He was the youngest of eleven children and was named after George Washington, whom his mother admired. Irving's father was a wealthy merchant who had been a loyalist during the American Revolution, and his mother was an Englishwoman who had grown up in New York.
Irving was educated at private schools in New York City and studied law briefly before deciding to pursue a career in writing. He began his literary career in 1802 with a series of satirical essays published under the pseudonym "Jonathan Oldstyle." In 1807, he published his first book, "Salmagundi," a collection of humorous essays and sketches that he co-wrote with his brother and a friend.
Irving's most famous works include "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle," both of which were published in 1820 as part of his collection of short stories.
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