Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1835. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER V. In which the Author puts a mighty question to the rout, by the assistance of the Man in the Moon--which not only delivers thousands of people from great embarrassment, but likewise concludes this introductory book. The writer of a history may, in some respects, be likened unto an adventurous knight, who having undertaken a perilous enterprise, by way of establishing his fame, feels bound in honour and chivalry, to turn_ back for no difficulty nor hardship, and never to shrink or quail, whatever enemy he may encounter. Under this impression, I resolutely draw my pen, and fall to, with might and main, at those doughty questions and subtle paradoxes, which, like fiery dragons and bloody giants, beset the entrance to my history, and would fain repulse me from the very threshold. And at this moment a gigantic question has started up, which I must needs take by the beard and utterly subdue, before I can advance another step in my historic undertaking; but I trust this will be the last adversary I shall have to contend with, and tha in the next book I'shall be enabled to conduct my readers in triumph into the body of my work. - The question which has thus suddenly arisen, is, what right had the first discoverers of America to .and and take possession of a country, without first gaining the consent of its inhabitants, or yielding them RIGHTS OF THE DISCOVERERS. 63 an adequate compensation for their territory ?--a question which has withstood many fierce assaults, and has given much distress of mind to multitudes of kind-hearted folk. And indeed, until it be totally vanquished, and put to rest, the worthy people of America can by no means enjoy the soil they inhabit, with clear right and title, and quiet, unsullied consciences. The first source of right, by which property is ac qu...

A greedy superstitious schoolmaster has an encounter with the ghost of a headless horseman.

Product Description: Washington Irving (1783–1859) was the first American literary artist to earn his living solely through his writings and the first to enjoy international acclaim. In addition to his long public service as a diplomat, Irving was amazingly prolific: His collected works fill forty volumes that encompass essays, history, travel writings, and multi-volume biographies of Columbus and Washington...read more

A retelling of the tale in which a man who sleeps for twenty years in the Catskill Mountains wakes to a much-changed world

The schoolmaster of the quiet little village of Sleepy Hollow encounters a mysterious, headless rider

The schoolmaster of the quiet little village of Sleepy Hollow encounters a mysterious, headless rider

A humorous account of New York City from the beginning of the world to the Dutch surrender

Covers a wide range of the nineteenth-century American author's literary accomplishments, from essay and satire to biography and legend

Product Description: This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible...read more

Product Description: In this book of Irving's choicest stories of the supernatural, there are ghosts in large numbers, as well as goblins, apparitions, spectres, reincarnations, necromancers, and more than a few probable figments of the imagination.

Product Description: "'Surely,' thought Rip, 'I have not slept here all night.'" No, Rip Van Winkle may have slept his way into American literary immortality overnight, but only by dozing off for two decades. The Washington Irving classic has been keeping fascinated readers awake since its appearance in 1820; its graphic sketch of village bumpkins and Catskill grotesques has prompted numerous illustrated and filmed versions...read more

Product Description: Introduction by William Kelly

Presents satires of New York City history, politics, and society

Product Description: Book by Irving, Washington

The Moorish palace of Alhambra is the setting for these stories

Tells the stories of a dreamer who awakens after twenty years and a teacher who is terrified by a ghostly rider