by Brian Jay Jones

Arcade. 468 pages. $29.99.

By Edward J. Renehan Jr.
Special to the Journal

In Washington Irving: An American Original, Brian Jay Jones delivers what will prove the definitive Irving biography for the current generation.

Jones reveals the New Yorker Irving (1783-1859) as the first American writer to earn a living solely from his pen. He also postulates Irving as the country’s first “best-selling” author and international superstar. In this, Irving was similar to such modern writers as Arthur Hailey or Ira Levin in crafting books that, though hailed by the public at large, were generally disdained by critics as low-brow.

Critics aside, the fact remains that Irving created several immortal works that today — 149 years after his death — remain firmly embedded in the culture.

What child has grown up without reading Irving’s short stories, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” or “Rip Van Winkle”? Elsewhere, in his A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker, Irving gave a name (Knickerbockers) to an entire class of ancient New Yorkers coming from Dutch descent. (The New York Knicks also owe Irving a tip of the hat.) In the same book, Irving came up with a choice designation for the island of Manhattan that has since seen service in more than one Batman film: Gotham.

Born and raised in New York City, Irving spent much time abroad. An extended stay in Spain yielded such books as The Life and Voyages of Columbus, Conquest of Granada, Voyages of the Companions of Columbus, and Tales of the Alhambra.

A return to the United States in 1832 was followed by a journey west, which in turn produced three books. In A Tour of the Prairies, Irving raised eyebrows when he took up the cause of Native Americans. “It has been the lot of the unfortunate aborigines of America, in the early periods of colonization, to be doubly wronged by the white men,” he wrote. “They have been dispossessed of their hereditary possessions by mercenary and frequently wanton warfare, and their characters have been traduced by bigoted and interested writers.”

In another book, Astoria, Irving chronicled the efforts of his friend John Jacob Astor to establish a fur-trading outpost on the Oregon coast. Finally, in yet another volume, he chronicled the story of his acquaintance Benjamin Bonneville, one of the earliest pioneers to explore the Oregon wilderness.

Ironically, the brilliant Irving seems to have dealt with many of the same problems that afflict modern writers. “Money was a constant concern. . . .” Jones writes. “He struggled with writer’s block, feuded with publishers, and sulked over criticism.” On top of all that, Irving was gay during a period when such a preference could and did pose a formidable obstacle on the path toward one’s personal happiness.

But now, Irving’s critics are dust, and the tales of the writer stand immortal. Thus is justice done. Irving’s home, Sunnyside, on the banks of the Hudson at Tarrytown, is today a site of pilgrimage. At the same time, we see Irving’s great tales rise to the surface of American consciousness again and again — most recently with the superb Johnny Depp film Sleepy Hollow.

In more ways than one, Irving remains a superstar — one that Brian Jay Jones does proud. WASHINGTON IRVING: An American Original,