Irving's "Sketch Book" was published in 1819, and, considering his vast interest in the stage, and the dramatic work done by him in conjunction with John Howard Payne, it is unfortunate that he himself did not realize the dramatic possibilities of his story. There is no available record to show that he either approved or disapproved of the early dramatizations. But there is ample record to show that, with the beginning of its stage career, nine years after publication, "Rip" caught fire on the stage both in America and in London. Mr. James K. Hackett is authority for the statement that among his father's papers is a letter from Irving congratulating him upon having made so much from such scant material.
The legendary character of Irving's sources, as traced in German folk-lore, does not come within the scope of this introduction. The first record of a play is Thomas Flynn's appearance as _Rip_ in a dramatization made by an unnamed Albanian, at the South Pearl Street Theatre, Albany, N. Y., May 26, 1828. It was given for the benefit of the actor's wife, and was called "Rip Van Winkle; or, The Spirits of the Catskill Mountains." Notice of it may be found in the files of the Albany _Argus_. Winter, in his Life of Joseph Jefferson, reproduces the prologue. Part of the cast was as follows:
Derrick Van Slous--Charles B. Parsons Knickerbocker--Moses S. Phillips Rip Van Winkle--Thomas Flynn Lowenna--Mrs. Flynn Alice--Mrs. Forbes
Flynn was a great friend of the elder Booth, and Edwin bore Thomas as a middle name.
In 1829, Charles B. Parsons was playing "Rip" in Cincinnati, Ohio, but no authorship is mentioned in connection with it, so it must be inferred that it was probably one of those stock products so characteristic of the early American theatre. Ludlow, in his "Dramatic Life," records "Rip" in Louisville, Kentucky, November 21, 1831, and says that the Cincinnati performance occurred three years before, making it, therefore, in the dramatic season of 1828-29, this being Rip's "first representation West of the Alleghany Mountains, and, I believe, the first time on any stage." Ludlow proceeds to state that, while in New York, in the summer of 1828, an old stage friend of his offered to sell him a manuscript version of "Rip," which, on his recommendation, he proceeded to purchase "without reading it." And then the manager indicates how a character part is built to catch the interest of the audience, by the following bit of anecdote: