Ichabod Crane from Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Ichabod Crane from Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Usage conditions apply
- Description (Brief)
- This print is bound with 5 others at the back of a rebound book. The cover is of the earlier Rip Van Winkle edition published for the American Art Union but the title page and text are of Washington Irving's Legends of Sleepy Hollow.
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a short story by celebrated American author Washington Irving, was first published in 1820 without illustrations in “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.” Best known for his popular stories of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Irving achieved acclaim in Europe and the U.S. over the course of his successful writing career. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was included in “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent” while Irving was living in Europe. Thus, he was one of the earliest American authors to survive merely on his writing. Irving’s stories have remained an emblem of American culture as they were some of the first short stories that aimed to entertain rather than educate. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow story inspired artists to create beautiful illustrations like the one included in this print.
- The gothic story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow tells of a man named Ichabod Crane who comes to Tarrytown, New York, known in the story as Sleepy Hollow, as a teacher. As he tries to win the heart of the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel, he ultimately finds himself being chased by the village’s feared legend, the Headless Horsemen. The story ends with a smashed pumpkin being found in the place where Ichabon disappeared, never to be seen again. This story is particularly popular around Halloween.
- This print illustrates Ichabod in the home of one of the mothers of his students. According to the story, he would stay in different family’s homes for about a week at a time, helping out with chores and the like as a sort of exchange for lodging. In this print Ichabod is rocking one of the children softly to sleep in a humble rural home. The image includes three children, a man and a woman, and a baby in addition to Ichabod Crane.
- Sarony, Major, & Knapp was one of the largest lithographic firms at the end of the 19th and the early of the 20th centuries. However, before it achieved this success it started out small in 1843 when Napoleon Sarony and James P. Major joined together to start a business. Later in 1857, Joseph F. Knapp joined the company making it Sarony, Major, & Knapp. At the time that this was printed, Knapp was not a part of the business, so it was just Sarony & Major.
- Felix O. C. Darley (1822-1888), the artist behind the twelve best-known illustrations for The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow, is considered one of America’s best illustrators. The publisher was the American Art Union, (1839-1857) a subscription organization created to educate the public about American art and artists while providing support for American artists. For $5.00 members would receive admissions to the gallery showing, a yearly report, and an engraving of an original work, as well as any benefits each chapter might provide. Two special editions of the story, each with a set of six of Darley’s illustrations were published; the special edition including this illustration was published in 1850. This print has been rebound with the five others at the back of the book and the cover is incorrectly from the earlier Rip Van Winkle edition published for the American Art Union, however the title page and text are of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- lithograph
- Object Type
- Lithograph
- date made
- 1849
- copyright holder, publisher
- American Art Union
- maker
- Darley, Felix Octavius Carr
- Sarony & Major
- place made
- United States: New York, New York City
- Physical Description
- paper (overall material)
- ink (overall material)
- Measurements
- image: 8 1/2 in x 11 in; 21.59 cm x 27.94 cm
- ID Number
- DL.60.2425
- catalog number
- 60.2425
- accession number
- 228146
- Credit Line
- Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
- subject
- Drinking
- Heating
- Chronology: 1840-1849
- Costume
- Furnishings
- Children
- Spinning wheel
- Story telling
- See more items in
- Cultural and Community Life: Domestic Life
- Domestic Furnishings
- Art
- Peters Prints
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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