The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Washington Irving

Aug 2015 · First Avenue Editions

About this ebook

Legend has it that the town of Sleepy Hollow is haunted by the ghost of the terrifying Headless Horseman. Ichabod Crane, the town's superstitious new school teacher, is about to find out if the legend is true. Ichabod has his heart set on marrying the beautiful heiress Katrina Van Tassel and acquiring her father's extravagant wealth. But local boy Brom Bones is also competing for her hand in marriage. He is willing to do just about anything to win her, including prey on Crane's overactive imagination. This is an unabridged version of one of American writer Washington Irving's most famous short stories, which gave rise to the American Gothic genre of writing. It was first published in 1820.

About the author

Washington Irving, one of the first Americans to achieve international recognition as an author, was born in New York City in 1783. His A History of New York, published in 1809 under the name of Diedrich Knickerbocker, was a satirical history of New York that spanned the years from 1609 to 1664. Under another pseudonym, Geoffrey Crayon, he wrote The Sketch-book, which included essays about English folk customs, essays about the American Indian, and the two American stories for which he is most renowned--"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle." Irving served as a member of the U.S. legation in Spain from 1826 to 1829 and as minister to Spain from 1842 to 1846. Following his return to the U.S. in 1846, he began work on a five-volume biography of Washington that was published from 1855-1859. Washington Irving died in 1859 in New York.