Books

1856. (WASHINGTON, George) IRVING, Washington. Life of George Washington. New York: G.P. Putnam, 1856-9. Five volumes. Quarto, contemporary three-quarter navy morocco gilt, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, raised bands, marbled boards, endpapers, and edges. $3500.""Illustrated Edition"" of Irving's well-regarded biography, richly illustrated with over 230 plates, handsomely bound.This ""monumental"" Life of Washington had been planned as early as 1825, but Irving did not complete the biography until the final years of his life. ""His final project, long contemplated, was a five-volume Life of George Washington (1855-59), elaborately researched and agonizingly completed as his health failed. He lived long enough to see the last volume published, dying soon afterward at Sunnyside. The book was designed—incongruously, given its length—for both scholars and average American readers. It tended to reaffirm standard conceptions of the nation's most revered patriot, who, for…

The Life of George Washington is a multi-volume biography by Irving, which offers a detailed account of Washington’s legacy.