Salmagundi; or, The whim-whams and opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, esq. [pseud.] and others. By William Irving, James Kirke Paulding and Washington Irving. Printed from the original ed., with a preface and notes by Evert A. Duyckinck.

EDITOR'S PREFACE.
THE present reprint of the following papers has grown out of
the repeated demand, of late years, for an edition of Salmagundi,
worthy to accompany the collected volumes of the writings of one
of its distinguished authors. The book would probably have been
included by Mr. Irving in the revised edition of his works, had it
been wholly his own. It was published some time ago, in the series
of the writings of his friend and relative, the joint author of the
essays, Mr. Paulding, and though it had been long out of print in
that form, Mr. Irving did not seem disposed to break the association.
He was accustomed, indeed, to speak of it as a light, trivial publication, the sport of his boyish days; and he certainly showed no
eagerness in reviving it; but we cannot suppose him insensible to
the many excellences which the work undoubtedly possessescharms of manner and of thought springing from the fresh, joyous
period of youth. and lending their grace to the brightest pages of
his matured labors. Salmagundi is the literary parent, not only of
the Sketch Book and the Alhambra, but of all the intermediate and
subsequent productions of Irving, even of some slight ornaments of
the graver offspring of the Columbus and Washington. There is,
for instance, in one of the later numbers, a chapter of " The Chronicles of the Renowned and Ancient City of Gotham," which
anticipates the humor of Knickerbocker; there are traits of tenderness and pathos suggestive of the plaintive sentiment of the