Washington Irving was the American author of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. He beagn writing in 1818, encouraged by Sir Walter Scott and his stories were published serially in New york as The sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon. The most famous of these were Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Prior to his writing career, Irivng had managed a branch of his brothers hardware business in Liverpool between 1815 and 1818. It was the failure of this business that made him turn to writing full time. The business was situated in the Goree Piazzas.
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