OUR FIRST MAN OF LETTERS; Professor Williams Writes the Definitive Life of Washington Irving THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON IRVING. By Stanley T. Williams. Illustrated. Two volumes, 501 and 445 pp. New York: Oxford University Press. $15. Washington Irving
THERE has long been needed a definitive life of Washington Irving. Shortly after his death there appeared the "Life and Letters" by his nephew, Pierre M. Irving. This was necessarily a partisan and biased book. It is detailed and accurate but evasive and a great deal less than frank in many matters.