In the use of native material, of course, Irving was a pioneer, along
with Cooper, and was in this quite different from Poe, who had no
aptitude in that way. "Knickerbocker's History of New York" is too
farcical to take a high position on this score, though it undoubtedly
had a beneficial effect in stirring up pride and interest in local
antiquities; but "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" were
valuable acquisitions so far as they went. Would that they had been
wrought out with a more masterly touch; and would that Irving had
penetrated further in this direction! But, though these Hudson legends
will long keep his fame renewed, it will perhaps be chiefly as a
historian that he will be prized. His pleasant compilation on Goldsmith,
his "Mahomet," "Columbus," and "Conquest of Granada," though not too
profound, fill an enviable niche in popular esteem; and his mellow and
stately narrative of Washington's life is a work of enduring excellence.
But these lie outside of our present discussion. Nor need we compare his
achievements in native fiction with Hawthorne's, after the review we
have been making of the latter's relation to New England.
Poe and Irving and Hawthorne have all met with acceptance in other
countries, and their works have been translated into several languages.
Irving has exercised no perceptible influence on literature at home or
abroad; Poe has entered more or less into the workings of a school in
England and a group in France.
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