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paperbound numbers between June 23, 1819, and September 13, 1820. When several sketches from the early numbers were reprinted in British newspapers, Irving, fearing that a pirated edition would be published in England, arranged for a volume of the first four numbers to be published in London. He later arranged for the publication of a revised English edition that included the two Native American sketches “Traits of Indian Character” and “Philip of Pokanoket” and also the concluding “L’Envoy.” The publication history of The Sketch-Book is of interest because it shows Irving’s efforts to negotiate the transatlantic audience that American writers had to confront in the early decades of the nineteenth century. The first American edition began with the following “Prospectus”:

The following writings are published on experiment; should they please they may be followed by others. The writer will have to contend with some disadvantages. He is unsettled in his abode, subject to interruptions, and has his share of cares and vicissitudes. He cannot therefore promise a regular plan, nor regular periods of publication. Should he be encouraged to proceed, much time may elapse between the appearance of his numbers; and their size must depend on the materials he has on hand. His writings will partake of the fluctuations of his own thoughts and feelings; sometimes treating of scenes before him; sometimes of others purely imaginary, and sometimes wandering back with his recollections to his native country. He will not be able to give them that tranquil attention necessary to finished composition, and as they must be transmitted across the Atlantic for publication, he must trust to others to correct the frequent errors of the press. Should his writings, however, with all their imperfections, be well received, he cannot conceal that it would be a source of the purest gratification, for though he does not aspire to those high honours that are the rewards of loftier intellects; yet it is the dearest wish of his heart to have a secure, and cherished, though humble, corner in the good opinions and kind feelings of his countrymen.

London, 1819

The first English edition began with the following “Advertisement”:

The following desultory papers are part of a series written in this country, but published in America. The author is aware of the austerity with which the writings of his countrymen have hitherto been treated by British critics: he is conscious, too, that much of the contents of his papers can be interesting only in the eyes of his American readers. It was not his intention, therefore, to have them reprinted in this country. He has, however, observed several of them from time to time inserted in periodical works of merit, and has understood that it was probable they would be republished in a collective form. He has been induced, therefore, to revise and bring them forward himself, that they may at least come correctly before the public. Should they be deemed of sufficient importance to attract the attention of critics, he solicits for them that courtesy and candour which a stranger has some right to claim, who presents himself at the threshold of a hospitable nation.

February, 1820

The selections from The Sketch-Book included in this edition are meant to exhibit Irving’s conscious efforts to appeal to both British and American readers.

2 (p. 49) The Author’s Account of Himself: In “The Author’s Account of Himself” Irving identifies Great Britain (and, by extension, “Old Europe”) as a repository of history and cultural traditions—the raw materials of fiction that American writers lacked. Although an American “never need ... look beyond his own country for the sublime and beautiful of natural scenery,” he must turn to Europe for “the charms of storied and poetical association ... the masterpieces of art, the refinements of highly-cultivated society, the quaint peculiarities of ancient and local custom” (p. 50). In his stories set in Sleepy Hollow and in his use of the Dutch colonial history of New York, Irving works to construct a comparable