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Library of America #146
Three Western Narratives
America's first internationally acclaimed author, Washington Irving, was also one of the first to write about its then far-western frontier. After seventeen years in Europe, the famous author of ?The Legend of Sleepy Hollow? returned to America and undertook an extensive three-month journey through present-day Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Describing scenery and inhabitants with an eye to romantic sublimity and celebrating the frontiersman's ?secret of personal freedom, ? Irving published his account of that journey in 1835 as "A Tour on the Prairies," an early and distinctly American depiction of the young nation's borderland and its native inhabitants. Irving followed up this eyewitness account with two works that chart the dramatic and tumultuous history of the early American fur trade, very much in the spirit of James Fenimore Cooper's "Leatherstocking Tales." "Astoria" (1836) recounts John Jacob Astor's attempt to establish a commercial empire in the Pacific Northwest. "The Adventures of Captain Bonneville" (1837) is a lively saga of exploration among the mountains, rivers, and deserts of the Far West. While working closely from original documents, Irving wrote also as a mythologist of the vast spaces traversed by ?Sindbads of the wilderness.? In these three compelling narratives he opened up a crucial region of the American literary imagination influencing such authors as Poe, Hawthorne, and Melville.
998 pages, Hardcover
First published January 26, 2004
About the author
Washington Irving
5,969 books1,098 followersPeople remember American writer Washington Irving for the stories "
Rip Van Winkle
" and "
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
," contained in
The Sketch Book
(1820).
This author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century wrote newspaper articles under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle to begin his literary career at the age of nineteen years.
In 1809, he published The History of New York under his most popular public persona, Diedrich Knickerbocker.
Historical works of Irving include a five volume biography of George Washington (after whom he was named) as well as biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and several histories, dealing with subjects, such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra, of 15th-century Spain. John Tyler, president, appointed Irving to serve as the first Spanish speaking United States minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.
This author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century wrote newspaper articles under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle to begin his literary career at the age of nineteen years.
In 1809, he published The History of New York under his most popular public persona, Diedrich Knickerbocker.
Historical works of Irving include a five volume biography of George Washington (after whom he was named) as well as biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and several histories, dealing with subjects, such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra, of 15th-century Spain. John Tyler, president, appointed Irving to serve as the first Spanish speaking United States minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 2, 2008
An amazing, historically rich account of the North American Fur Trade directly after the voyage of Lewis and Clark. Anyone interested in this era of American heritage will love the prose of one our greatest writers and story tellers.
"A Tour on the Prairies" documents Irving's foray into the Midwestern Plains with a military prospecting dragoon. His interactions with the Osage, Pawnee and hunting parties of the regiment are a colorful documentation of the American frontier.
"Astoria", perhaps the most compelling of the series, is a second-hand account of the rise and fall of an Oregon Fur Trade Fort, funded by the mogul Jacob John Astor in 1808. After hardships on land and sea, the ultimate collapse of Astor's enterprise illuminates the horror of what happened to a wilderness expedition faced with the atrocities of starvation, attacks, disease, and cold. This group of entrepreneur-trappers give extra credence to the unlikely success and survival of Lewis and Clark in their voyage just two years before.
"The Adventures of Captain Bonneville" completes the trilogy. Bonneville, a forgotten hero, leads a crew of soldiers and trappers through the wilds of the West - years at a time, and through the most hostile of territories. Never again has a more in depth and immediate account of the legendary Fur Trapper been told. It is hard to believe these thrilling historical writings are so seldom included in Irving's greatest collections.
"A Tour on the Prairies" documents Irving's foray into the Midwestern Plains with a military prospecting dragoon. His interactions with the Osage, Pawnee and hunting parties of the regiment are a colorful documentation of the American frontier.
"Astoria", perhaps the most compelling of the series, is a second-hand account of the rise and fall of an Oregon Fur Trade Fort, funded by the mogul Jacob John Astor in 1808. After hardships on land and sea, the ultimate collapse of Astor's enterprise illuminates the horror of what happened to a wilderness expedition faced with the atrocities of starvation, attacks, disease, and cold. This group of entrepreneur-trappers give extra credence to the unlikely success and survival of Lewis and Clark in their voyage just two years before.
"The Adventures of Captain Bonneville" completes the trilogy. Bonneville, a forgotten hero, leads a crew of soldiers and trappers through the wilds of the West - years at a time, and through the most hostile of territories. Never again has a more in depth and immediate account of the legendary Fur Trapper been told. It is hard to believe these thrilling historical writings are so seldom included in Irving's greatest collections.
January 9, 2024
Another collection of beautifully written, time and place immersive. In these stories Irving brings to life the West of the third decade of the 19th century in vivid detail.
What a pleasure to see vast herds of buffalo, the beautiful sight of wild horses proudly tossing their great manes, and the incomprehensibly vast and open spaces west of the Mississippi.
Ah, this man could write!
What a pleasure to see vast herds of buffalo, the beautiful sight of wild horses proudly tossing their great manes, and the incomprehensibly vast and open spaces west of the Mississippi.
Ah, this man could write!
March 10, 2025
A Tour on the Prairies - finished 03.09.25
Astoria - finished 05.10.26
Astoria - finished 05.10.26
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews