Legend of Sleepy Hollow illustration
date: label: date made
content: 1849
name: label: copyright holder; publisher
content: American Art Union
label: maker
content: Darley, Felix Octavius Carr
label: maker
content: Sarony & Major
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Black and white print after an etching. Illustration from the Legend of Sleepy Hollow showing Ichabod Crane on horseback encountering the "Headless Horseman" on a wooded, hilly, country road.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a short story by celebrated American author Washington Irving, was first published in 1820 without illustrations in “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.” Best known for his popular stories of Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Irving achieved acclaim in Europe and the U.S. over the course of his successful writing career. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was included in “The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent” while Irving was living in Europe. Thus, he was one of the earliest American authors to survive merely on his writing. Irving’s stories have remained an emblem of American culture as they were some of the first short stories that aimed to entertain rather than educate. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow story inspired artists to create beautiful illustrations like the one included in this print.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The gothic story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow tells of a man named Ichabod Crane who comes to Tarrytown, New York, known in the story as Sleepy Hollow, as a teacher. As he tries to win the heart of the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel, he ultimately finds himself being chased by the village’s feared legend, the Headless Horsemen. The story ends with a smashed pumpkin being found in the place where Ichabon disappeared, never to be seen again. This story is particularly popular around Halloween.
label: Description (Brief)
content: In the illustration Ichabod finally comes into contact with the Headless Horseman, who rides a black horse and wears a black cloak concealing his head and face. The Horseman is holding an orange round pumpkin in front of him, which Ichabon perceives as the man’s head. Ichabod rides a white horse whose expression matches his own in terms of terror and surprise. At this point in the story, Ichabod was on his way home following the party at the Van Tassel’s. The two men and their horse’s are frozen in place, caught off guard by one another.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Sarony, Major, & Knapp was one of the largest lithographic firms at the end of the 19th and the early of the 20th centuries. However, before it achieved this success it started out small in 1843 when Napoleon Sarony and James P. Major joined together to start a business. Later in 1857, Joseph F. Knapp joined the company making it Sarony, Major, & Knapp. At the time that this was printed, Knapp was not a part of the business, so it was just Sarony & Major.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Felix O. C. Darley (1822-1888), the artist behind the twelve best-known illustrations for The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow, is considered one of America’s best illustrators. The publisher was the American Art Union, (1839-1857) a subscription organization created to educate the public about American art and artists while providing support for American artists. For $5.00 members would receive admissions to the gallery showing, a yearly report, and an engraving of an original work, as well as any benefits each chapter might provide. Two special editions of the story, each with a set of six of Darley’s illustrations were published; the special edition including this illustration was published in 1850. This print has been rebound with the five others at the back of the book and the cover is incorrectly from the earlier Rip Van Winkle edition published for the American Art Union, however the title page and text are of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Horses
label: depicted
content: Horseback Riding
label: Subject
content: Costume
label: Subject
content: Chronology: 1840-1849
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: Art
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content: Peters Prints
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content: Domestic Furnishings
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Darley, Felix O.C.. Illustrations of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
label: Related Publication
content: Peters, Harry T.. America on Stone
label: Related Publication
content: Irving, Washington. Rip Van Winkle & The Legend of Speepy Hollow
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.2428
label: catalog number
content: 60.2428
label: accession number
content: 228146
objectType: label: Object Name
content: lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: image: 8 1/2 in x 11 in; 21.59 cm x 27.94 cm