A Tribute To the Original Knickerbocker
Washington Irving’s contribution to New York
In Dec. 1809, a little-known writer came out with a book boasting a wordy title. A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty was a satirical account of New York’s Dutch past when it was called New Amsterdam. The book’s creator, Washington Irving, published it using a pen name, Diedrich Knickerbocker. And Knickerbocker narrates the book.
Irving and his brother, Peter, first planned for A History of New York to parody a pamphlet they’d read titled, “A Picture of New York.” But Peter left New York for Europe, and Washington Irving took control of the project. He realized that, at the time, most New Yorkers knew nothing of the city’s founding as a Dutch colony. So, Irving conceived of an entertaining, and sometimes a fictitious way of educating them.
A History of New York helped New Yorkers better understand their city’s and state’s history. Irving took liberty with some historical details, though. As he wrote in the introduction to an 1848 edition of the book, “If it has taken an unwarrantable liberty with our early provincial history, it has at least turned attention to that history, and provoked research.”
The book also introduced Washington Irving to American readers. A decade later, he…
