
Knickerbocker's History of New York, Vol. 1
'Knickerbocker's History of New York, Vol. 1' Summary
Irving had previously published his compilation of sketches Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent. (1802) and headed a short-lived periodical called Salmagundi (1807–1808). He completed his satirical A History of New York in 1809 after the death of his 17-year-old fiancée Matilda Hoffman. It was his first major book and a satire on local history and contemporary politics. Before its publication, Irving started a hoax by placing a series of missing person advertisements in New York newspapers seeking information on Diedrich Knickerbocker, a Dutch historian who had allegedly gone missing from his hotel in New York City. As part of this guerilla marketing ruse, he placed a notice from the hotel's proprietor informing readers that, if Mr. Knickerbocker failed to return to the hotel to pay his bill, he would publish a manuscript that Knickerbocker had left behind.
Unsuspecting readers followed the story of Knickerbocker and his manuscript with interest, and some New York city officials were concerned enough about the missing historian to offer a reward for his safe return. Irving then published A History of New York on December 6, 1809 under the Knickerbocker pseudonym, with immediate critical and popular success. "It took with the public", Irving remarked, "and gave me celebrity, as an original work was something remarkable and uncommon in America". The name Diedrich Knickerbocker became a nickname for Manhattan residents in general and was adopted by the New York Knickerbockers basketball team.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1809Genre/Category
Tags/Keywords
Author

Washington Irving
United States
Irving is largely credited as the first American Man of Letters and the first to earn his living solely by his pen. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow acknowledged Irving's role in promoting American literatu...
More on Washington IrvingDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

Daniel Boone, the pioneer of Kentucky by John Stevens Cabot Abbott
This is a detailed biography of the life and adventures of Daniel Boone. His accomplishments are brushed over in history classes these days and not gi...

John Quincy Adams by John T. Morse
This biography contains three main sections. the first covers Adams's early years and his time as a diplomat--both in America and overseas. The second...

The World's Famous Orations, Vol. 2: Rome by William Jennings Bryan
In 1906, William Jennings Bryan, himself a famous American orator, and Francis Whiting Halsey compiled a series of the most famous orations of all tim...

A Prisoner of Morro by Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair, born in 1878 was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author. He wrote over 90 books in many genres. Best known for his muckraking novel,...

Abraham Lincoln: A History (Volume 3) by John George Nicolay
Abraham Lincoln: A History is an 1890 ten-volume account of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln, written by John Nicolay and John Hay, who were his...

A New England Girlhood: Outlined From Memory by Lucy Larcom
"Larcom served as a model for the change in women's roles in society." This is her colorful autobiography. Here, she tells about her happy childhood,...

Chronicles of Canada Volume 01 - The Dawn of Canadian History: A Chronicle of Aboriginal Canada by Stephen Leacock
This book describes Canada from the beginning of existence to its first European discoverers and includes a brief history of the aboriginal people. Th...

How to Listen to Music by Henry Krehbiel
This book is "not written for professional musicians, but for untaught lovers of the art". It gives broad instruction on composers, styles, instrument...

The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses of Theodore Roosevelt by Theodore Roosevelt
The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses (1910) is a collection of Theodore Roosevelt’s published commentaries and public addresses on what is necessa...

Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 2 by Isaac D'Israeli
This is the second volume of the collected Curiosities of Literature by Isaac D'Israeli. As in volume one, D'Isreali again takes us on a tour around l...
Reviews for Knickerbocker's History of New York, Vol. 1
No reviews posted or approved, yet...