Rip Van Winkle's Republic - by Andrew Burstein & Nancy Isenberg (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In the twenty-first century, precious little has been written about America's first professional author, Washington Irving, who was one of the most well-known and highly esteemed writers of the nineteenth century. Rip Van Winkle's Republic marks a rediscovery and reassessment of this marvelous author of social satire and fabled tales of the past. It evaluates Irving's mind, his unique take on the human condition, and the new understandings of early US culture afforded by renewed study of his large body of work, with special attention to his international bestseller The Sketch Book (1819-1820), the collection of tales that included the immortal "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle." Edited by two eminent historians of early America, Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg, Rip Van Winkle's Republic approaches the author and his times from a variety of angles. The book is, first of all, interdisciplinary in character, its contributors a mix of professional historians and literary scholars. The foreword, introduction, and ten original essays interweave critical thoughts on the growth of an independent American idiom along with the growth of American literature in a transatlantic market; the place of the American Revolution and treatment of indigenous Americans and African Americans in nineteenth-century literature; and the fragility of memory and construction of historical memory more broadly. As a bibliophile and, definitively, an antiquarian, or lover of the archive, Irving belongs in discussions of book culture. This volume also emphasizes Irving as a prominent figure in an age of literary celebrity. More than one of the contributors examine his place in the history of American theater and in film and television adaptations of his work. Finally, given his iconic status throughout America's first 100 years as a nation, Rip Van Winkle's Republic queries his curious disappearance from the literary canon over the past half-century"--

Book Synopsis

Two centuries ago, native New Yorker Washington Irving exploded onto the literary scene of Europe with the publication of his breakout collection of stories, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Published in England and America in 1819--1820, and universally praised for its inventive characters and soul-searching qualities, including the immortal tales "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," the volume enjoyed remarkable transatlantic success, allowing Irving to become the first of his nation to support himself as a professional author.

In this distinctive collection, historians and literary scholars come together to reassess Irving's imaginative world and complex cultural legacy. Alternately a satirist and a nostalgia merchant, Irving was ever absorbed in reconstituting a lost past, which the volume dubs "Rip Van Winkle's Republic." The assembled scholars explore issues of Anglo-American culture, the power of imagery, race, and the treatment of time and history in Irving's vast body of literature, as well as his status as a bibliophile, an antiquarian, and a prominent figure in an age of literary celebrity.

Edited by acclaimed historians Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg, Rip Van Winkle's Republic marks a rediscovery of this marvelous author of social satire and fabled tales of the past.

Review Quotes

"The essays individually of-fer meaningful insights and avenues, and col-lectively they cover significant ground, speak-ing to issues of nationality, class, and race, as well as issues of time and memory. . . . the va-riety of topics, approaches, and voices, along with an accessible conversational tone, make the book an inviting resource that could en-gage a range of audiences."--Journal of American History

"This interdisciplinary collection of ten essays, initially intended for a conference scuttled by COVID, examines Washington Irving (1783-1859) as both producer and product of American historical consciousness. . . . what emerges is an intriguing account of how Irving established himself as the first internationally recognized US literary celebrity, someone whose "fan base rivaled Lord Byron's."--Choice

"The preeminent American writer of his day, Washington Irving remained popular into the early twentieth century before changing tastes and contexts diminished his appeal. This volume, marking the bicentennial of Irving's The Sketch Book, helps explain why his writings mattered in the early republic, how they found their way into other media, and why they remain relevant. Those interested in Irving will find much to enjoy, and the quality of the writing makes the book enjoyable for specialists and nonspecialists alike."--Scott E. Casper, president of the American Antiquarian Society and author of Constructing American Lives: Biography and Culture in Nineteenth-Century America

About the Author

Andrew Burstein is the Charles P. Manship Professor of History at Louisiana State University and the author of The Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving, along with many other books on early US history.

Nancy Isenberg is the T. Harry Williams Professor of History at Louisiana State University and the author of the New York Times bestseller White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America. Her other books include Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr.