Description
Washington Irving was born in New York City and named after George Washington, whose presidential inauguration he attended in 1789. Irving has been called the “first American Man of Letters” and is best known for his stories: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. He was a prolific Romantic style author of history, biographies and short stories. Irving was a lawyer and served in the military during the war of 1812 and was U.S. ambassador to Spain in the 1840s. In his later years, Irving pushed for stronger copyright laws and lived at his Tarrytown, New York home “Sunnyside” which served as a meeting place for writers, artists and politicians.
Washington Irving wrote under various pseudonyms, such as Jonathan Oldstyle, creating satirical works including A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker. Irving invented the fictional Dutch character, Diedrich Knickerbocker, whom he used to narrate several of his short stories. Today the surname ‟Knickerbocker” has become a nickname for Manhattan residents in general and the NBA basketball team in N.Y. Irving perfected the American short story and popularized the moniker “Gotham” for New York City. He is also credited with inventing the expression “the almighty dollar.”
This Washington Irving History Mug is part of our Author series which includes many unique individuals.
The biographical History Mugs were created to teach and inspire individuals to learn about our diverse and interesting history. The biographies were researched and written by history enthusiast, Robert Compton. He colorized most of the historic photos and images used on the mugs, which were originally black and white or sepia tone. The images and biographies are imprinted on mugs at his studio in rural Vermont.
- Mugs are food and microwave safe.
- To preserve photographic quality we recommend hand washing.
- Mugs are usually shipped within 3-5 days.
