History of New York (Dietrich Knickerbocker's) by Irving, Washington - 1940

New York: The Heritage Press, 1940. Hardcover in Slipcase. Fine/A Very Good Slipcase. Illustrations by Don Freeman.

Golden cloth covered boards titles in gilt in blue box, edges stained blue in slipcase. Book has not been opened or read. Slipcase has usual fading and some wear to edges. Decorated endpages and illustrated by 'original" lithographs of Don Freeman. Sand Glass notes included.. In 1809, New Yorkers were buzzing about a series of classified ads concerning the whereabouts of Dutch historian Diedrich Knickerbocker. They were unaware that Washington Irving had invented the man entirely and placed the ads himself.

Knickerbocker's purported manuscript, A History of New York, was Irving's own. Told from Knickerbocker's point of view, A History of New York is a chronicle of New York's fifty years under Dutch rule in the 1600s that plays fast and loose with the facts, to uproarious effect. The book propelled Irving to the heights of literary stardom.