The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
VOLUME XV. Colonial and Revolutionary Literature; Early National Literature, Part I.

IV. Irving.

§ 3. Salmagundi.


The first literary undertaking to which Irving’s pen was devoted, apart from a few ephemeral sketches for one of the daily papers, was a serial publication issued at irregular intervals during 1807–08, under the title of Salmagundi. In this work, Irving had the collaboration of his brother Williams and his friend James K. Paulding. 2  The Salmagundi papers, reissued later in book form, possess, in addition to their interest as humorous literature, historical value as pictures of social life in New York during the first decade of the nineteenth century.   7

Note 2. See also Book II, Chaps. I, III, V, VII. [ back ]