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A History of New-York, From the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, Vol. 1 of 2: Containing, Among Many Surprising and Curious ... Disastrous Projects of William the Testy, and
Excerpt from A History of New-York, From the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, Vol. 1 of 2: Containing, Among Many Surprising and Curious Matters, the Unutterable Ponderings of Walter the Doubter, the Disastrous Projects of William the Testy, and the Chivalric Achievements of Peter the Headstrong, the Three Dutch Governors of New-Amsterdam
The fame of Mr. Knickerbocker's history having reached even to Albany, he received much flattering attention from its worthy burghers, some of whom, however, pointed out two or three very great errors he had fallen into, particularly that of suspending a lump of sugar over the Albany tea-tables, which, they assur ed him, had been discontinued for some years past. Several families, moreover, were somewhat piqued that their ancestors had not been mentioned in his work, and showed great jealousy of their neighbours who had been thus distinguished; while the latter, it must he confessed, plumed themselves vastly there upon; considering these recordings in the light Of letters-patent Of nobility, establishing their claims to ancestry - which, in this republican country, is a matter of no little solicitude and vain glory.
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Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
The fame of Mr. Knickerbocker's history having reached even to Albany, he received much flattering attention from its worthy burghers, some of whom, however, pointed out two or three very great errors he had fallen into, particularly that of suspending a lump of sugar over the Albany tea-tables, which, they assur ed him, had been discontinued for some years past. Several families, moreover, were somewhat piqued that their ancestors had not been mentioned in his work, and showed great jealousy of their neighbours who had been thus distinguished; while the latter, it must he confessed, plumed themselves vastly there upon; considering these recordings in the light Of letters-patent Of nobility, establishing their claims to ancestry - which, in this republican country, is a matter of no little solicitude and vain glory.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
- GenresHistory
448 pages, Paperback
First published December 6, 1809
68 people want to read
About the author
Diedrich Knickerbocker
15 books2 followersDiedrich Knickerbocker is a pen name used by Washington Irving to publish his first satirical work A History of New York.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 5, 2021
This is how "A History of New York", written by Washington Irving under the pseudonym of Diedrich Knickerbocker, published in 1809, opens:
"NOTICES WHICH APPEARED IN THE NEWSPAPERS PREVIOUS TO THE PUBLICATION OF THIS WORK.
From the Evening Post of October 26, 1809.
DISTRESSING
Left his lodgings some time since, and has not since been heard of, a small elderly gentleman, dressed in an old black coat and cocked hat, by the name of Knickerbocker. As there are some reasons for believing he is not entirely in his right mind, and as great anxiety is entertained about him, and information concerning him left either at the Columbian Hotel, Mulberry Street, or at the office of this paper, will be thankfully received."
That's right, the first thing Irving tells us about the author of this book is that he has gone missing, and is perhaps not quite right in the head. There follow several pages concerning the disappearance of said author, the document left in his hotel room, the eventual sale of the document to publisher Inskeep & Bradford to meet his unpaid tab, the author's later discovery in "a small Dutch village on the banks of the Hudson", a short history of the rest of the elderly author's life after discovering that his book had been published without his knowledge (he was not done with it), and his eventual death, including some details of his will. Then, eventually, we begin with Chapter 1, and start talking about the early history of New York, in the narrative voice of Knickerbocker.
Needless to say, this is not actually intended to be read as a history. It is riffing on history, to be sure, but is primarily a comedy. What was even more surprising to me was its extraordinarily ironic, sarcastic, and almost postmodern tone, the (actual, flesh and blood) author often indicating the exact opposite beliefs through the comically un-selfaware narration of his alter ego, Diedrich Knickerbocker. I should have known that people over 200 years ago were fully as capable of being so "meta", but to be honest I had somehow the impression that this was more a late-20th and early-21st century sort of thing.
I only occasionally laughed out loud, I admit, but I believe I did read nearly the entire thing with a smirk or a grin on my face. It is not the sort of book one should expect to make you better informed about history, not directly. It did send me to the internet occasionally out of curiousity as to what had actually happened during the reigns of Wouter the Doubter, William the Testy, or Peter the Headstrong. There was often some rough resemblance to the events in Irving's "History", and who knows, in some cases perhaps he comes closer to an honest accounting of events than one would find in a typical history book. From the chapter in which the English and Dutch attempt to make a treaty regarding which portions of New York belong to each:
"A treaty, or, to speak more correctly, a negotiation, therefore, according to the acceptation of experienced statesmen learned in these matters, is no longer an attempt to accommodate differences, to ascertain rights, and to establish an equitable exchange of kind offices; but a contest of skill between two powers, which shall overreach and take in the other. It is a cunning endeavor to obtain by peaceful manoeuvre, and the chicanery of cabinets, those advantages which a nation would otherwise have wrested by force of arms, in the same manners as a conscientious highwayman reforms and becomes a quiet and praiseworthy citizen contenting himself with cheating his neighbor out of that property he would formerly have seized with open violence."
It is my third book by Washington Irving, and the third which I have enjoyed. It is a wonder I was not exposed to any of it as a student. I believe I may have to seek out more of it.
"NOTICES WHICH APPEARED IN THE NEWSPAPERS PREVIOUS TO THE PUBLICATION OF THIS WORK.
From the Evening Post of October 26, 1809.
DISTRESSING
Left his lodgings some time since, and has not since been heard of, a small elderly gentleman, dressed in an old black coat and cocked hat, by the name of Knickerbocker. As there are some reasons for believing he is not entirely in his right mind, and as great anxiety is entertained about him, and information concerning him left either at the Columbian Hotel, Mulberry Street, or at the office of this paper, will be thankfully received."
That's right, the first thing Irving tells us about the author of this book is that he has gone missing, and is perhaps not quite right in the head. There follow several pages concerning the disappearance of said author, the document left in his hotel room, the eventual sale of the document to publisher Inskeep & Bradford to meet his unpaid tab, the author's later discovery in "a small Dutch village on the banks of the Hudson", a short history of the rest of the elderly author's life after discovering that his book had been published without his knowledge (he was not done with it), and his eventual death, including some details of his will. Then, eventually, we begin with Chapter 1, and start talking about the early history of New York, in the narrative voice of Knickerbocker.
Needless to say, this is not actually intended to be read as a history. It is riffing on history, to be sure, but is primarily a comedy. What was even more surprising to me was its extraordinarily ironic, sarcastic, and almost postmodern tone, the (actual, flesh and blood) author often indicating the exact opposite beliefs through the comically un-selfaware narration of his alter ego, Diedrich Knickerbocker. I should have known that people over 200 years ago were fully as capable of being so "meta", but to be honest I had somehow the impression that this was more a late-20th and early-21st century sort of thing.
I only occasionally laughed out loud, I admit, but I believe I did read nearly the entire thing with a smirk or a grin on my face. It is not the sort of book one should expect to make you better informed about history, not directly. It did send me to the internet occasionally out of curiousity as to what had actually happened during the reigns of Wouter the Doubter, William the Testy, or Peter the Headstrong. There was often some rough resemblance to the events in Irving's "History", and who knows, in some cases perhaps he comes closer to an honest accounting of events than one would find in a typical history book. From the chapter in which the English and Dutch attempt to make a treaty regarding which portions of New York belong to each:
"A treaty, or, to speak more correctly, a negotiation, therefore, according to the acceptation of experienced statesmen learned in these matters, is no longer an attempt to accommodate differences, to ascertain rights, and to establish an equitable exchange of kind offices; but a contest of skill between two powers, which shall overreach and take in the other. It is a cunning endeavor to obtain by peaceful manoeuvre, and the chicanery of cabinets, those advantages which a nation would otherwise have wrested by force of arms, in the same manners as a conscientious highwayman reforms and becomes a quiet and praiseworthy citizen contenting himself with cheating his neighbor out of that property he would formerly have seized with open violence."
It is my third book by Washington Irving, and the third which I have enjoyed. It is a wonder I was not exposed to any of it as a student. I believe I may have to seek out more of it.
August 11, 2023
Some parts very funny, but I tired of the humor eventually.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews