With a distinguished career as The United States Ambassador to Spain, a historian, an essayist, and as a short-story writer, Washington Irving's status as a patron, and champion of literature in America sits at the forefront of the greatest importance, if not reverence.

One of the first writers to earn acclaim in Europe, attracting admiration from prominent authors such as Lord Byron, Charles Dickens, and Sir Walter Scott, Irving understood the necessity of narrative, lore, and literature in order to lay down the foundations for a culture in a young America.

An advocate for writing as a recognized profession, and for stronger copyright laws, the native of Tarrytown, New York, also served as a mentor to the likes of Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Edgar Allan Poe. With many of these writers who became as prominent then as they are today, Irving's efforts not only lead to the beginning of the Romantic Movement in the United States, but as a consequence, the beginning of a America's timeless literary heritage.

Thanks to his tireless endorsement of American writers to engage with, and create literature, the efforts of Washington Irving has resulted in the creation, and the realization of a love. One that sits on the highest shelves of every bookstores and library. Ever watching, and ever smiling when a book departs beneath the arms of an entranced reader, and when another returns to take its place. Ready to entrance like it has entranced many before. With an enduring lasting love. Ever smiling. Ever watching.