. Backgrounds of literature. ter Scottof Dean Swift and of Sterne. In 1815 Irving went to Europe for the secondtime, and seventeen years passed before he setfoot in his native city again. During this periodhe wrote The Sketch-Book, a collection ofessays in his most characteristic vein, urbane,genial, full not only of Old World atmosphere,Old World grace, ease, mellowness of reflec-tion, and sentiment, but full also of New Worldfeeling. Bracebridge Hall brought the fra-grance of old gardens and the dignity of oldhomes once more to the children of the menand women who had left them behind two ce
. Backgrounds of literature. ter Scottof Dean Swift and of Sterne. In 1815 Irving went to Europe for the secondtime, and seventeen years passed before he setfoot in his native city again. During this periodhe wrote The Sketch-Book, a collection ofessays in his most characteristic vein, urbane,genial, full not only of Old World atmosphere,Old World grace, ease, mellowness of reflec-tion, and sentiment, but full also of New Worldfeeling. Bracebridge Hall brought the fra-grance of old gardens and the dignity of oldhomes once more to the children of the menand women who had left them behind two cen-turies before; The Tales of a Traveler, whichappeared two years later and was read witheager interest, dealt with old things, but was fullof novelty to the untraveled America of thethird decade of the last century. The Life ofColumbus was begun, and The Tales of theAlhambra and The Conquest of Granada were finished, during this long residence abroad;and when he returned, in 1832, Irvings most 108 Oil Slee])\- PIollow Brook. WASHINGTON IRVING COUNTRY characteristic work was done. He was still towrite The Life of Washington, Mahometand his Successors, the charming account ofGoldsmith, and other books; but he struck nonew notes and disclosed no new qualities as awriter. At first glance it would seem as if Irvingswork had been done against many backgrounds,English and Spanish as well as American, andas if his note had been cosmopolitan rather thanAmerican. The real Irving, however, was atrue son of the country of which New York isthe capital, and his characteristic and abidingwork had behind it a city, a river, and a moun-tain range which were not simply the stage set-ting of his life, but which gave color, atmo-sphere, tone, to his writing. As a translatorIrving rendered a great service to his country,and enriched its literature with the meditationson Westminster Abbey, the description ofStratford-on-Avon, and the group of studies ofEnglish life and landscape in BracebridgeHall
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