Washington Irving

This elaborate book cover is for Washington Irving’s “Old Christmas,” published in 1876. The book is a compilation of five 1820 stories by Irving for his “Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.” Also called “The Sketch Book,” the book is the origin of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle.”

Image: “Old Christmas: from the sketch book of Washington Irving” published by MacMillian & Co. (1876). From the Charles M. Adams American Trade Binding Collection, University of North Carolina-Greensboro