A Note on Astoria: Irving's Use of the Robert Stuart Manuscript

Abstract

W5 tASHINGTON IRVING began Astoria with the avowed V11/ Vintention of providing his readers with a picture of American enterprise as it was manifested in the fur trade. His subject was Colonel John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company, a venture that rose, flourished briefly, and died, a victim, as Astor thought, of public indifference, British competition, and geographical difficulties. Irvings's purpose was explained in the following passage.