{{Short description|1822 novel by Washington Irving}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox book | name = ''Bracebridge Hall'' | image = Bracebridge Hall.jpg | caption = First edition | author = Washington Irving | country = United States / England (concurrently published) | language = English | cover_artist = | genre = | publisher = John Murray (UK)<br/>Moses Thomas (USA) | release_date = 1822 | media_type = Print (hardback), 2 volumes | pages = | isbn = 0-554-33977-3 | isbn_note = (reprint) | preceded_by = The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. | followed_by = Tales of a Traveller }}

'''''Bracebridge Hall, or The Humorists, A Medley''''' was written by Washington Irving in 1821, while he lived in England, and published in 1822. This episodic novel was originally published under his pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon.

==Plot introduction== As this is a location-based series of character sketches, there are a number of individual plots. The tales centre on the occupants of an English manor (based on Aston Hall, near Birmingham, England, which was occupied by members of the Bracebridge family and which Irving visited).

The character of Ready Money Jack was also inspired by someone Irving met near Birmingham.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Some Personalities - Washington Irving. |first=Richard B. |last=Kimball |journal=Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly |date=1878 |volume=VI |pages=721–727}}</ref>

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==Plot summary== As this is a series of character sketches, the most effective way currently to describe this book is to list the contents. {{col-begin}}{{col-break}}

===Volume I=== # The Author # The Hall # The Busy Man # Family Servants # The Widow # The Lovers # Family Reliques # An Old Soldier # The Widow's Retinue # Ready Money Jack # Bachelors # Wives # Story Telling # The Stout Gentleman # Forest Trees # A Literary Antiquary # The Farm-House # Horsemanship # Love-Symptoms # Falconry # Hawking # St. Mark's Eve # Gentility # Fortune Telling # Love-Charms # The Library # The Student of Salamanca {{col-break}}

===Volume II=== # English Country Gentleman # A Bachelor's Confessions # English Gravity # Gipsies # May-Day Customs # Village Worthies # The Schoolmaster # The School # A Village Politician # The Rookery # May-Day # The Manuscript # Annette Delarbre # Travelling # Popular Superstitions # The Culprit # Family Misfortunes # Lovers' Troubles # The Historian # The Haunted House # Dolph Heyliger # The Storm-Ship # The Wedding # The Author's Farewell {{col-end}}

==Release details== All are hardcover editions except the 1823 and 1991 (binding unknown). * 1822, USA, C.S. Van Winkle, 2 volumes (May 21, 1822) – published by M&S Thomas, Philadelphia<ref>While American copies have the name C.S. Van Winkle on the title page, the original bindings bear the inscription "Published by M&S Thomas, Philadelphia" on the spine. See ''Works'', 9:xxivn28.</ref> * 1822, UK, John Murray (May 23, 1822) * 1823, Berlin, German translation * 1836, USA, Carey, Lea and Blanchard, 2 volumes * 1865, USA, G.P. Putnam's Sons, complete in one volume, by Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. * 1869, USA, G.P. Putnam and Son * 1876 (dated 1877), London, Macmillan & Co., one volume edition, illustrated by Randolph Caldecott * 1890, London, Edinburgh & New York, T. Nelson and Sons * 1978, USA, Sleepy Hollow Restorations (October 1, 1978), {{ISBN|0-912882-35-2}} * 1990, USA, Ams Pr (June 1, 1990), {{ISBN|0-404-03508-6}} * 1991, USA, Library of America: ''Bracebridge Hall, Tales of a Traveller, The Alhambra'' (March 1, 1991), {{ISBN|978-0-940450-59-2}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Gutenberg|no=14228|name=Bracebridge Hall}} * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=v2gRAAAAYAAJ&q=Bracebridge+Hall Bracebridge Hall]'' (Caldecott illustrated edition) at Google Books. * {{librivox book | title=Bracebridge Hall | author=Washington IRVING}}

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Category:1822 short story collections Category:Short story collections by Washington Irving Category:Works published under a pseudonym