Knickerbocker's History of New York, Vol. 2

About this film

LibriVox recording of Knickerbocker's History of New York, Vol. 2 by Washington Irving. Read in English by Maria Kasper; Greg Giordano; Scott Birney. Washington Irving, an author, biographer, historian, and diplomat, completed his first major work, a satire of contemporary local history and politics entitled A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker in 1809. Prior to its publication, Irving started a promotional hoax (not unlike some modern-day publicity stunts?) by placing fake missing persons advertisements in local newspapers asking for help in locating Diedrich Knickerbocker. As a continuation of the hoax, Irving also published a notice purported to be written by the proprietor of the hotel where Knickbocker was staying, in which he threatened to publish a manuscript “left behind” by Knickerbocker if the hotel bill was not paid. From “The Author’s Apology”: “The main object of my work, in fact, had a bearing wide from the sober aim of history, but one which, I trust, will meet with some indulgence from poetic minds. It was to embody the traditions of our city in an amusing form; to illustrate its local humor…

Directors & creators

Washington Irving

Subjects

librivox; audiobooks;satire; humor; history; New York; social history; new york colonial history; local customs; knickerbocker

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