Sailing for England in 1815 on business, he
stayed until 1832 as a roving man of letters in England and Spain
and then as Secretary of the American Legation in London. "The
Sketch Book," "Bracebridge Hall," and "Tales of a Traveler" are
the best known productions of Irving's fruitful residence in
England. The "Life of Columbus," the "Conquest of Granada," and
"The Alhambra" represent his first sojourn in Spain. After his
return to America he became fascinated with the Great West, made
the travels described in his "Tour of the Prairies," and told the
story of roving trappers and the fur trade in "Captain
Bonneville" and "Astoria." For four years he returned to Spain as
American Minister. In his last tranquil years at Sunnyside on the
Hudson, where he died in 1859, he wrote graceful lives of
Goldsmith and of Washington.
Such a glance at the shelf containing Irving's books suggests but
little of that personal quality to which he owes his significance
as an interpreter of America to the Old World. This son of a
narrow, hard, Scotch dealer in cutlery, this drifter about town
when New York was only a big slovenly village, this light-hearted
scribbler of satire and sentiment, was a gentleman born.
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