Washington Irving was widely considered to be America's first "Man of Letters," or the first American to make a successful and long-lasting career as a highly regarded author, and as such, he had a great impact on his fellow authors in America and abroad. Shortly after Irving's death in 1859, many luminaries of the literary world came together at a New York Historical Society event to honor the memory of one of America's brightest literary stars. Featuring addresses by William Cullen Bryant, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and other prominent American writers of the mid-nineteenth century, this collection of tributes to Irving gives a glimpse not only at Irving's life and works, but also at the influence he had on America's fledgling literary circle.