Tales of a Traveller
{{short description|Book by Washington Irving}}
{{use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}{{use American English|date=March 2025}}
{{infobox book
| author = Washington Irving
| caption = Volume 1 of the first US edition.
| congress = PS2052 1991
| country = United States/England
(concurrently published)
| dewey = 813/.2 20
| followed_by = A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus
| genre = Essays & Short stories
| image = traveller1.jpg
| isbn = 0-940450-59-3
| isbn_note = (reprint)
| language = English
| media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
| name = Tales of a Traveller, by Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.
| oclc = 22207793
| preceded_by = Bracebridge Hall
| publisher = John Murray (London)
H.C. Cary & I. Lee (Philadelphia)
| release_date = 1824
}}
Tales of a Traveller, by Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. (1824) is a two-volume, four-part (plus an introduction) collection of essays and short stories authored by Washington Irving. He compiled the collection while he was living in Europe, primarily in Germany and Paris and published it under his pseudonym, Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.. Notable stories included are "The Adventure of the German Student", "Kidd the Pirate", and "The Devil and Tom Walker".
Reception
Irving thought highly of Tales of a Traveller, saying: "I think there are in it some of the best things I have ever written". He was therefore disappointed by the book's generally poor critical reception.{{r|n=Cairns|r={{cite book
| first = William B.
| last = Cairns
| location = Madison, Wisconsin
| oclc = 1833885
| publisher = University of Wisconsin
| series = University of Wisconsin Studies in Language and Literature Number 14
| title = British Criticisms of American Writings 1815–1833: A Contribution to the Study of Anglo-American Literary Relationships
| url = https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/102830803
| year = 1922
}}|p=50}} Critic John Neal was severe in his critique,{{r|n=Cairns|p=86}} saying in American Writers: "We hardly know how to speak of this sad affair{{nbsp}}.... No wonder that people have begun to question his originality".{{cite book
| author-link = John Neal
| editor-first = Fred Lewis
| editor-last = Pattee
| editor-link = Fred Lewis Pattee
| first = John
| last = Neal
| location = Durham, North Carolina
| oclc = 464953146
| pages = 138–139
| publisher = Duke University Press
| title = American Writers: A Series of Papers Contributed to Blackwood's Magazine (1824–1825)
| year = 1937
}} By the early 20th century, critics generally ranked it lower than The Sketch Book.{{r|n=Cairns|p=50}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{gutenberg|no=13514|name=Tales of a Traveller}}
- {{librivox book | title=Tales of a Traveller| author=Irving}}
{{Washington Irving}}{{authority control}}
category:1824 short story collections