1901; November, 1902; March, 1903; January, August, 1904; February, May, September, 1905; February, October, 1906; February, October, 1907; February, August, 1908; January, August, 1909 January, 1910.

INTRODUCTION

"FORTY years ago," writes Mr. Curtis, "upon a pleasant afternoon, you might have seen tripping with an elastic step along Broadway, in New York, a figure which even then would have been called quaint. It was a man of about sixty-six or sixtyseven years old, of a rather solid frame, wearing a Talma, as a short cloak of the time was called, that hung from the shoulders, and low shoes, neatly tied, which were observable at a time when boots were generally worn. The head was slightly declined to one side, the face was smoothly shaven, and the eyes twinkled with kindly humor and shrewdness. There was a chirping, cheery, old-school air in the whole appearance, an undeniable Dutch aspect, which, in the streets of New Amsterdam, irresistibly recalled Diedrich Knickerbocker. . . The occasional start of interest as the figure was recognized by some one in the passing throng, the respectful bow, and the sudden turn to scan him more closely, indicated that he was not unknown. Indeed, he was the American of his time universally known. This modest and kindly man was the creator of Diedrich Knickerbocker and Rip Van Winkle. He was the father of our literature,

ix

and at that time its patriarch. He was Washington Irving." About the same time, on the same thoroughfare, one might have seen two other figures of almost equal note: the slight, alert, active figure of William Cullen Bryant, and heavier, more combative figure of James Fenimore Cooper.

The History of New York was published in 1809, and its appearance may be taken as the beginning of American literature; Thanatopsis saw the light in 1816, and will be regarded by future students of our literature as the prelude to American poetry, its first distinct and resonant note; while the publication of The Spy in 1821-22 gave the country its earliest novel of literary quality and American background. In New York, then, in the first two decades of the present century, American literature had its beginnings; and so brief is the story of literary development in this country that all these writers are still remembered by men now living. Indeed, there was living at Stratford-on-Avon last year a venerable but vigorous man who remembered Irving's visit to the charming town to which his sympathetic pen was to recall the attention of all lovers of English poetry: a visit which antedated the publication of The SketchBook in 1819!

There had been vigorous writing in the American colonies long before the advent of what has come to be called the Knickerbocker school; but, with very few exceptions, it belongs to the literature of information, of theology, of politics. The literature of imagina tion, humor, and sentiment was the growth of a later