The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. audiobook
by Washington Irving (1783-1859)
Apart from “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” – the pieces which made both Irving and The Sketch Book famous – other tales include “Roscoe”, “The Broken Heart”, “The Art of Book-making”, “A Royal Poet”, “The Spectre Bridegroom”, “Westminster Abbey”, “Little Britain”, and “John Bull”. His stories were highly influenced by German folktales, with “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” being inspired by a folktale recorded by Karl Musaus. Stories range from the maudlin (such as “The Wife” and “The Widow and Her Son”) to the picaresque (“Little Britain”) and the comical (“The Mutability of Literature”), but the common thread running through The Sketch Book – and a key part of its attraction to readers – is the personality of Irving’s pseudonymous narrator, Geoffrey Crayon. Erudite, charming, and never one to make himself more interesting than his tales, Crayon holds The Sketch Book together through the sheer power of his personality – and Irving would, for the rest of his life, seamlessly enmesh Crayon’s persona with his own public reputation. (Introduction by Wikipedia)
| The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. | |
|---|---|
 Title page of the 1st edition |
|
| Author(s) | Washington Irving |
| Country | United States/England |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Essays & Short stories |
| Publisher | C. S. Van Winkle (USA) (serialized), then in book form by Burlington Arcade (self published, UK), and John Murray(UK) |
| Publication date | 1819–1820 |
| Media type | Hardback, 2 vols. & Paperback, 7 installments |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-940450-14-3 (reprint) |
| OCLCNumber | 9412147 |
| Dewey Decimal | 818/.209 19 |
| LC Classification | PS2052 1983 |
| Preceded by | ‘A History of New York’ |
| Followed by | ‘Bracebridge Hall’ |