The Man Who Was Rip Van Winkle

A man who sleeps for twenty years in the Catskill Mountains wakes to a much-changed world.

Explores the social and economic transformations of the mid-Hudson River Valley during the key expansionist period in American history.

A collection of short stories written by Washington Irving.

The most beloved American comedic actor of the nineteenth century, Joseph Jefferson made his name as Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle. In this book, a compelling blend of biography and theatrical and cultural history, Benjamin McArthur chronicles Jefferson's remarkable career and offers a lively and original account of the heroic age of the American theatre. Joe Jefferson's entire life was spent on the stage, from the age of Jackson to the dawn of motion pictures. He extensively toured the United States as well as Australia and Great Britain. An ever-successful career (including acclaim as painter and memoirist) put him in the company of the great actors, artists, and writers of the day, including Edwin Forrest, Edwin Booth, John Singer Sargent, and William Dean Howells. This book rescues a brilliant figure and places him, appropriately enough, on center stage of a pivotal time for American theatre. McArthur explores the personalities of the period, the changing theatrical styles and their audiences, the touring life, and the wide and varied culture of theatre. Through the life of Jefferson, McArthur is able to illuminate an era.

Here, along with the complete text of this classic story are 30 Rackham illustrations rendered for coloring. Children can make their first thrilling acquaintance with the story as they color. Students and admirers of Irving and Rackham will enjoy the elfish portrayals of henpecked Rip and shrewish Dame Van Winkle.

Rip Van Winkle is an idler who would rather starve for a penny than work for a pound, and his wife is constantly nagging him. In search of peace, Rip heads off to the woods one day with his faithful dog, Wolf. High up in the Catskill Mountains, Rip meets an unusual group of little men. He drinks their strong beverage and falls into a deep sleep. When he awakens, he finds that twenty years have passed – the world has changed and so has he. With vibrant paintings by Leonard Everett Fisher, Eric A. Kimmel’s adaptation of Washington Irving’s classic “Rip Van Winkle” introduces a Rip who reforms as a result of his experience. Rip Van Winkle's Return is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

This Hardcover edition includes two books: "A Modest Proposal" and "Gulliver's Travels" ! Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" is a satirical essay written to mock the callous and indignant attitude of Ireland's rich towards the poor. In the essay, Swift argues Ireland's economic problems could be lessened by selling poor Irish children as food to the wealthy. First published in 1729, Swift's essay gained international attention as a satire unlike any other published to-date. "A Modest Proposal" helped bring international attention to rising economic uncertainty in Ireland and the plight of the less fortunate. Gulliver's Travels was published in 1726 and is probably the most famous work by Jonathan Swift. It was an instant hit--selling out within a week--and has never been out of print, as well as having been adapted many times. Lemuel Gulliver, an English surgeon on the Antelope, is shipwrecked and washed up on the island of Lilliput, where the inhabitants are less than six inches tall. This part of the book is a thinly veiled attack on the political classes of the time, as the Lilliputians focus on the minutiae of life, most notably the rift which has developed according to which end of a boiled egg gets opened at breakfast--the big end or the little end. On his second recorded journey he is abandoned on an island of giants where he is paraded as a curiosity at local markets and fairs. On his third journey he is marooned by pirates and is rescued by the inhabitants of a floating island devoted to music, mathematics and astronomy. On his final journey he meets the Houyhnhnms, a race of talking horses who have subdued the Yahoos, creatures who resemble humans. On his return to England, Gulliver has a very different outlook on life and views the human race in a very different way. A True Classic that Belongs on Every Bookshelf!