Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent: Satire on the Fashions of the New York Theater Scene
()
About this ebook
Washington Irving
Washington Irving (1783-1859) was an American writer, historian and diplomat. Irving served as the American ambassador to Spain in 1840s, and was among the first American writers to earn acclaim in Europe. He argued that writing should be considered as a legitimate profession, and advocated for stronger laws to protect writers against copyright infringement. Irving’s love for adventure and drama influenced his work heavily. His most popular works, Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, were inspired by his visit to the Catskill mountains. Irving is credited to have perfected the short story form, and inspired generations of American writer.
Read more from Washington Irving
Old Christmas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Christmas Library: 250+ Essential Christmas Novels, Poems, Carols, Short Stories...by 100+ Authors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Greatest Ghost and Horror Stories Ever Written: volume 1 (30 short stories) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rip Van Winkle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gothic Novel Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Knickerbocker's History of New York Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Classic American Short Story MEGAPACK ® (Volume 1): 34 of the Greatest Stories Ever Written Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gothic Classics: 60+ Books in One Volume Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Tour on the Prairies: An Account of Thirty Days in Deep Indian Country Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Oxford Book of American Essays Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tales of the Alhambra: A Selection of Essays and Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tales of a Traveller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Greatest American Short Stories: 50+ Classics of American Literature Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHarvard Classics: All 71 Volumes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClassic Christmas Stories: A Collection of Timeless Holiday Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings30 Occult & Supernatural masterpieces you have to read before you die (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Greatest Christmas Stories: 120+ Authors, 250+ Magical Christmas Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent
Related ebooks
Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent: Satire on the Fashions of the New York Theater Scene Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLetters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent.: Nine Humorous Essays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEssays: Nine Humorous Essays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLetters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent.: Nine Humorous Essays on the Fashions of the Time and the New York Theater Scene (Unabridged) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLETTERS OF JONATHAN OLDSTYLE, GENT: 9 Humorous Essays on the Fashions of the Time and the New York Theatre Scene Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLETTERS OF JONATHAN OLDSTYLE, GENT. (Complete Edition): Humorous Essays on the Fashions of the Time and the New York Theater Scene Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLetters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent. by Washington Irving - Delphi Classics (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHarper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XI.—April, 1851—Vol. II. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKnickerbocker's History of New York, Complete Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Knickerbocker's History of New York Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Holy Cross & Other Tales: "Books do actually consume air and exhale perfumes" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKnickerbocker's History of New York: From the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Holy Cross and Other Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dyna Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 12, No. 349, Supplement to Volume 12. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Works of Washington Irving Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLittle Memoirs of the Nineteenth Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of New York (Knickerbocker's Edition) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA History of New York Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVathek Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Lumley Autograph Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. by Washington Irving - Delphi Classics (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lady of the Lake Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEssays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA. W. Kinglake: A Biographical and Literary Study Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Satire For You
Lawyering By Dummies Student Expanded Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It Was Just Another Day in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFaggots Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heart of a Dog Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5House of Cards Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Candide: The Original Unabridged And Complete Edition (Voltaire Classics) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I Am A Cat Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As I Lay Dying Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of the African-American People (Proposed) by Strom Thurmond: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Crimson Petal and the White: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Candy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Utopia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Line to Kill: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heart Sutra Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Futurological Congress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51900: Or; The Last President Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Noir: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Buck: A Read with Jenna Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The White Boy Shuffle: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kill for Love Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No One Left to Come Looking for You: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Only Living Girl on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Third Policeman: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life and Loves of a She Devil: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Trout Fishing in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bonfire of the Vanities: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Friday Black Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shriver: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dog's Heart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent - Washington Irving
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE.
Table of Contents
WHEN a writer has acquired great renown by his productions, and has established his reputation as a man of genius, we naturally feel a curiosity to become acquainted not only with his personal but his intellectual history. We like to trace up the current of his mind to its first tricklings, as it were, and to listen to its prattlings among the pebbles, as it is hurrying along to its broader and bolder channel.
The author of the Sketch Book has become more distinguished than perhaps any other American writer; and even England has been constrained to acknowledge that his productions are among the most elegant specimens of English composition.
In the year 1802, Mr. Irving first attracted public notice by publishing in the Morning Chronicle a series of sportive pieces under the signature of Jonathan Oldstyle. To the new generation of readers produced by the lapse of twenty-two years, we trust that their republication will be peculiarly acceptable.
It is in these specimens that we may perceive the germ of that genius which soon after blossomed in Salmagundi, shot forth in wild luxuriance in Knickerbocker, and finally displayed its rich fruit in the Sketch Book, and Bracebridge Hall.
A brief account of the life and writings o! Mr. Irving will, perhaps, not be deemed superfluous by the readers of this little publication.
The city of New York has the honour of being the birthplace of this distinguished author, who has given such eclat to the literary reputation of our country. He was a student in Columbia College, in the year 1800, but by reason of his infirm health, was under the necessity of relinquishing his classical studies, and of devoting his attention to pursuits less compulsory and severe. By way of recreation, he was advised to take lessons in drawing; and for this purpose he put himself under the tuition of a gentleman, whose Drawing Academy still maintains a high reputation in our city. What proficiency he made in this art, we have not the means of ascertaining. It is presumable, however, that this kind of sketching was not that which best accorded with his genius, nor probably consisted with his health; for he soon afterwards began to turn his thoughts to travel, and a voyage across the Atlantic was recommended by his physician, and encouraged by his kindred and friends. In the interim, however, and indeed before this determination had been taken, his elder brother, now in England, was editing a newspaper in this city; and although a political paper, and devoted to the views and interests of a party, yet some portions of its columns were occasionally embellished by hands unseen,
with the flowers of poetry and literature, and sometimes enlivened by flashes of wit and humour. An inviting opportunity here presented itself, for trying the scarcely fledged wings of our juvenile author: and a twofold benefit could be conferred — credit to himself, and relief to the careworn and harassed editor, whose political conflicts did not allow him leisure to woo the muses to his aid; and he knew, that without some contributions from the Pierian district, his paper, even in this banknote-world,
would soon decline, for the want of contributions of a more substantial quality.
It was at this period, that the light pieces now republished, first made their appearance. They attracted a good deal of notice, and the Morning Chronicle was eagerly sought for by the lovers of genuine native humour. Mr. Irving then embarked for France, from whence he proceeded to Italy, and went as far as Rome and Naples. His travels and residence abroad enabled him to entertain his friends at home with the most amusing accounts of his various adventures, and the most picturesque descriptions of every thing that presented itself to his ready and lively apprehension. His letters are, no doubt, yet to be found within the circle of his relatives and correspondents, and the hope may be indulged, that they will not suffer them to be lost.
Our author returned to America, we believe, some time in the year 1805 or 1806; and his health being much improved, he commenced the study of the law, in the office of an eminent counsellor in New York. Coke, however, delighted him not — nor Blackstone neither.
What progress he