Reprint of the original, first published in 1875.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1875.

Washington Irving was an American short story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820), that appear in the collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. or simply the Sketch Book, as commonly referred. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is among the earliest examples of American fiction that has not lost its popularity, especially during Halloween. More recently, the story has also inspired the successful TV series titled simply Sleepy Hollow. In 1974, the story was recognized with the issue of a postage stamp by the US Postal Service. "The Spectre Bridegroom" stands out as one of the few longer, folktale-style stories that is not set in America. The story, a Traveler Tale as the author calls it, is introduced by a much shorter story titled the "Inn Kitchen," which is the only story Geoffrey Crayon, the pseudonymous narrator, remembers after spending the evening in the kitchen of the Inn he was staying at, listening at the stories told by travelers and local folks gathered there. This production includes all three stories, and all their illustrations, as published in the book edition by J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., Philadelphia, 1875

Along with "Rip Van Winkle", "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is among the earliest examples of American fiction with enduring popularity, especially because of a character known as the Headless Horseman believed to be a Hessian soldier who was decapitated by a cannonball in battle. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" relates the tale of Ichabod Crane, a lean, lanky and extremely superstitious schoolmaster from Connecticut, who competes with Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt, the town rowdy, for the hand of 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and sole child of wealthy farmer Baltus Van Tassel. Ichabod Crane, a Yankee and an outsider, sees marriage to Katrina as a means of procuring Van Tassel's extravagant wealth ...