Sleepy Hollow's Washington Irving Wrote Columbus Bestseller in 1828

Summary: Washington Irving wrote his Columbus bestseller in 1828 as a four-volume biography entitled A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus.

1820 portrait of Washington Irving by British artist Gilbert Stuart Newton (Sep. 2, 1795-Aug. 5, 1835); P.M. Irving, The Life and Letters of Washington Irving, Vol. II (1862), frontispiece: Not of copyright, via Internet Archive

Sleepy Hollow's Washington Irving wrote his Columbus bestseller in 1828 as a comprehensive biography entitled A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus.

American short-story writer and statesman Washington Irving (April 3, 1783-Nov. 28, 1859) published the first edition of his biography of late 15th-century to early 16th-century explorer and navigator Christopher Columbus (Catalan: Cristòfor Colom; Italian: Cristoforo Colombo; Portuguese: Cristóvão Colombo; Spanish: Cristóbal Colón; ca. 1446/1451-May 20, 1506) on Jan. 1, 1828. The biography was published in four volumes by British publisher John Murray. The company's founding in London, South East England, in 1768 qualifies it as "the oldest publisher in Britain," according to "About John Murray," posted by The Beagle, the official blog for John Murray Publishers. The renowned publishing house's early 19th-century author roster included English novelist Jane Austen (Dec. 16, 1775-July 18, 1817) and English Romantic poet Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron; Jan. 22, 1788-April 19, 1824).

Washington Irving's diary entry for Monday, Jan. 30, 1826, includes the notation: ". . . received letter from Mr. Everett, attaching me to embassy at Madrid, enclosing passport, and proposing my translating voyage of Columbus" (page 247), according to The Life and Letters of Washington Irving, volume II, published in 1862 by Irving's nephew Pierre Munro Irving (April 3, 1802-Feb. 25, 1876). Pierre was the third of five children born to Washington Irving's oldest brother, William Irving Jr. (Aug. 15, 1766-Nov. 9, 1821), and his wife, Julia Paulding Irving (Aug. 10, 1768-Jan. 24, 1823).

In the Preface to his Columbus biography, Irving described the circumstances that led to his adding the explorer's biography to his writing portfolio. Alexander Hill Everett (March 19, 1792-June 28, 1847), U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary at Madrid, proposed Irving's English translation of a forthcoming collection of documents, edited by Spanish historian Martín Fernández de Navarrete (Nov. 9, 1765-Oct. 8, 1844), ". . . relative to the voyages of Columbus, among which were many of a highly important nature, recently discovered" (Irving, A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, vol. I, iii).

Irving accepted the Spansh-to-English translation project in his letter dated Sunday, Jan. 31, in Bordeaux, Gironde department, southwestern France. "I must return you my thanks also for the literary undertaking you have suggested to me. The very idea of it animates me; it is just the kind of employment I would wish at present for my spare hours. I will thank you, therefore, to secure it for me," Irving wrote (The Life and Letters, vol. II: 248).

Irving arrived in Madrid, central Spain, on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Two days later, he was lodged in the residence of Obadiah Rich (Nov. 25, 1777-Jan. 20, 1850), who was appointed as U.S. Consul in Valencia from 1816 to 1823 and as U.S. Consul in Madrid in 1823. Irving described Rich as ". . . one of the most indefatigable bibliographers in Europe, who, for several years, had made particular researches after every document relative to the early history of America. In his extensive and curious library, I found one of the best collections extant of Spanish colonial history, containing many documents for which I might search elsewhere in vain. This he put at my absolute command, with a frankness and unreserve seldom to be met with among the possessors of such rare and valuable works; and his library has been my main resource throughout the whole of my labours" (Preface, v).

Irving's enthusiasm for translating Navarrete's waned as he contextualized the ". . . mass of rich materials for history . . ." for general readers. "And invaluable as such stores may be to the laborious inquirer, the sight of disconnected papers and official documents is apt to be repulsive to the general reader, who seeks for clear and continued narrative" (Preface, iv).

Pierre Irving ascertained his uncle's switch from translator to biographer in March 1826 in Washington Irving's notes. ". . . on the 25th of the following month, I find by his note-book that he had abandoned the idea, and was already engaged in making researches, examining manuscripts, and taking notes for a regular Life, which he trusted would be more acceptable to others, as it was undoubtedly a more satisfactory occupation to himself" (The Life and Letters, vol. II: 252).

Irving interrupted his Columbus project for three months to pursue his interest in the final decade of the Reconquest (Spanish: Reconquista) of the Iberian peninsula. "On the ninth of August, six weeks after I parted with Mr. Irving, it appears by his note-book that his attention was diverted to the Conquest of Granada, at which he commenced at once, and on which he worked incessantly, with the exception of an excursion of four days to the Escurial in October, until the 18th of November, when, having completed a rough sketch of the work, he threw it aside to resume his Columbus," Pierre Irving related (The Life and Letters, vol. II: 253-254).

On Saturday, Dec. 30, Washington Irving recorded in his note-book: "All day at Columbus." The next day, New Year's Eve, Sunday, Dec. 31, he assessed the year: "Columbus -- go out -- return home and write a little, but sleepy and go to bed -- and so ends the year 1826, which has been a year of the hardest application and toil of the pen I have ever passed. I feel more satisfied, however, with the manner in which I have passed it than I have been with that of many gayer years, and close this year of my life in better humor with myself than I have often done" (The Life and Letters, vol. II: 254).

Irving's timeline for completion of his Columbus biography continued into 1827. In a letter dated Thursday, Jan. 18, 1827, to Pierre, he acknowledged his slow progress, for which he partially blamed himelf. "I had hoped by this time to have had Columbus ready for the press, but there are points continually rising to be inquired into and discussed, which cause delay; and I played truant to my main work for two or three months and rambled into another, which is all sketched out in the rough, so that Columbus has yet to receive the finishing touches" (The Life and Letters, vol. II: 255).

In a letter dated Thursday, Feb. 22, 1827, approximately one year after his Columbus-related relocation to Madrid, Washington Irving characterized for his nephew the complexities of his Columbus project. "I have been working very hard at the History of Columbus, and have had to re-write many parts that I had thought finished, in consequence of procuring better sources of information, which threw new light upon various points. It is a kind of work that will not bear hurrying; many questions have been started connected with it which have been perplexed by tedious controversies, and which must all be looked into. I had no idea of what a complete labyrinth I had entangled myself in when I took hold of the work" (The Life and Letters, vol. II: 257).

American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Feb. 27, 1807-March 24, 1882) visited Irving in Madrid in March 1827. He recalled the visit in an address at the Massachusetts Historical Society after Irving's death. "At this time Mr. Irving was at Madrid, engaged upon his Life of Columbus; and if the work itself did not bear ample testimony to his zealous and conscientous labor, I could do so from personal observation. He seemed to be always at work. . . . One summer morning, passing his house at the early hour of six, I saw his study window already wide open. On my mentioning it to him afterwards, he said: 'Yes, I am always at my work as early as six.' Since then, I have often remembered that sunny morning and that open window, so suggestive of his sunny temperament and his open heart, and equally so his patient and persistent toil. . . ." (The Life and Letters, vol. II: 266).

In a letter dated Wednesday, April 4, 1827, to his lifelong friend, rare book collector and scion of a Manhattan landholding family Henry Brevoort Jr. (1791-April 11, 1874), Washington Irving expressed deeply personal feelings about his Columbus biography, its possible reception and the writer's anguishing paradox of enjoying writing versus pleasing the public. "Since my arrival in Spain (about fifteen months since), I have principally been employed on my Life of Columbus, in executing which I have studied and labored with a patience and assiduity for which I shall never get the credit. I am now advancing toward the conclusion of my work. How it will please the public I cannot anticipate. I have lost confidence in the favorable disposition of my countrymen, and look forward to cold scrutiny and stern criticism, and this is a line of writing in which I have not hitherto ascertained my own powers. Could I afford it, I should like to write and to lay my writings aside when finished. There is an independent delight in study and in the creative exercise of the pen; we live in a world of dreams, but publication lets in the noisy rabble of the world, and there is an end to our dreaming" (The Life and Letters, vol. II: 260).

In a postscript to Brevoort, Irving emphasized the privacy of the letter's contents. "I have written much of this letter in an open and garrulous vein about my private feelings. I trust you will receive it with indulgence, and show it to no one. I never had any reserve with you and I write to you as I used to talk, without caring to disguise any error or weakness" (The Life and Letters, vol. II: 261).

Washington Irving completed his Columbus biography in July 1827. He had devoted 17 months to the explorer's ". . . history, faithfully digested" from ". . . numerous valuable tracts . . . in manuscript, or in the form of letters, journals, and public muniments" (Preface, iv).

Irving opened his letter of Sunday, July 29, 1827, to his publisher, John Murray II (Nov. 27, 1778-June 27, 1843), with the announcement: "I have at length concluded my History of Columbus." After summarizing the biography's main themes, he considered its uniqueness. "I have woven into my work many curious particulars not hitherto known concerning Columbus, and I think I have thrown light upon some parts of his character which have not been brought out by his former biographers. I have labored hard to make the work complete and accurate as to all the information extant relative to the subject, while I have sought to execute it in such a manner as would render it agreeable to the general reader" (The Life and Letters, vol. II: 262-263).

The John Murray publishing house released the first United Kingdom edition of A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus as four volumes on New Year's Day, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 1828. New York's G. & C. Carvill released the biography's first American edition as three volumes also in January 1828.

Irving's Columbus biography became an instant bestseller, with 175 editions published between 1828 and 1900 (page 196), according to Andrew Burstein, Charles P. Manship Professor of History at Louisiana State University (LSU), in The Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving, published in 2007, and also according to Irving bibliographics compiled by William R. Langfeld and Philip C. Blackburn (Washington Irving: A Bibliography; The New York Public Library, 1933) and Stanley T. Williams and Mary Ellen Edge (A Bibliography of the Writings of Washington Irving: A Check List; Oxford University Press, 1936).

A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus was considered as the "definitive" Columbus biography for "more than a century," according to Spanish historical linguist and Allegany College of Maryland professor Jack Shreve in "Christopher Columbus: A Bibliographic Voyage," published in Choice, the magazine of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), in January 1991. On New Year's Day, Thursday, Jan. 1, 1942, 114 years after the New Year's Day 1828 release of Irving's Columbus biography, American maritime historian Samuel Eliot Morison (July 9, 1887-May 15, 1976) published Admiral of the Ocean Sea. Morison's two-volume biography, published by Boston's Little, Brown and Company, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Biography on Monday, May 3, 1943.

Washington Irving originally had expected to translate into English the multi-volume Spanish documental collection compiled by Spanish noble, naval officer and maritime historian Martín Fernández de Navarrete y Ximénez de Tejada (Nov. 9, 1765-Oct. 8, 1844), but, after considering new documents discovered by Navarrete, the Sleepy Hollow author instead decided to write a complete, updated biography of Christopher Columbus; Retrato del capitán de navío Martín Fernández de Navarrete, undated oil on canvas by unknown artist; Museo Naval de Madrid (Naval Museum of Madrid) inventory number MNM-5178: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

1820 portrait of Washington Irving by British artist Gilbert Stuart Newton (Sep. 2, 1795-Aug. 5, 1835); P.M. Irving, The Life and Letters of Washington Irving, Vol. II (1862), frontispiece: Not of copyright, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/lifelettersofwas02irvi/page/2/mode/1up

Washington Irving originally had expected to translate into English the multi-volume Spanish documental collection compiled by Spanish noble, naval officer and maritime historian Martín Fernández de Navarrete y Ximénez de Tejada (Nov. 9, 1765-Oct. 8, 1844), but, after considering new documents discovered by Navarrete, the Sleepy Hollow author instead decided to write a complete, updated biography of Christopher Columbus; Retrato del capitán de navío Martín Fernández de Navarrete, undated oil on canvas by unknown artist; Museo Naval de Madrid (Naval Museum of Madrid) inventory number MNM-5178: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mart%C3%ADn_Fern%C3%A1ndez_de_Navarrete.jpg; PDM: Marca de Dominio Público, via Biblioteca Virtual de Defensa @ https://bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.es/BVMDefensa/i18n/consulta/resultados_ocr.do?posicion=61&tipoResultados=BIB&id=94035&forma=ficha

For further information:

Beerman, Eric. "Washington Irving en Madrid (1826-28): Cristóbal Colón." Revista Complutense de Historia de América, no. 18 (1992): 197-217.
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Irving, Washington. A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. In four volumes. Vol. II. London: John Murray, MDCCCXXVIII [1828].
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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/10/christopher-columbuss-wife-was-madeiran.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Columbus's Ombu Tree From Indies Flourishes at La Cartuja in Seville." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/12/columbuss-ombu-tree-from-indies.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Ferdinand Columbus Biographized His Father as Italian But Born Where?" Earth and Space News. Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/10/ferdinand-columbus-biographized-his.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Is May 1506 Columbus Military Codicil in Prayer Book Found 1780 Fake?" Earth and Space News. Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/12/is-may-1506-columbus-military-codicil.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Lombardy Associates With Columbus and His Wife's Great-Grandparents." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/10/lombardy-associates-with-columbus-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "May 1506 Prayer Book Codicil Mismatches Columbus's Usual Signature." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/01/may-1506-prayer-book-codicil-mismatches.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Missing Half or Third of Columbus's Personal Papers Includes 1502 Will." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/12/missing-half-or-third-of-columbuss.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Possible Columbus Grandfather João Gonçalves Zarco Discovered Madeira." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/11/possible-columbus-grandfather-joao.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Second of Four Columbus Wills Likely Was Genuine But Has Disappeared." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/11/second-of-four-columbus-wills-likely.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Secrets & Lies Finds Duke of Beja Perhaps Fathered Christopher Columbus." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/11/secrets-lies-finds-duke-of-beja-perhaps.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Statue in Cuba, Portugal, Honors Columbus as Salvador Fernandes Zarco." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/11/statue-in-cuba-portugal-honors-columbus.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Trail of 1502 Columbus Will Confuses After 1578 Removal From Monastery." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/12/trail-of-1502-columbus-will-confuses.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Washington Irving Assessed 1506 Columbus Military Codicil as Authentic." Earth and Space News. Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/12/washington-irving-assessed-1506.html

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