“Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound.”

In the early 1770s, right before the American Revolution, a man wandered off in the Catskill mountains to escape his wife and vanished. Twenty years later, Rip Van Winkle reappears – dressed in the same clothes and unaware that any time has passed – and discovers that his village is much different than when he left. Who was responsible for his disappearance? And where has he been all these years?

A symbolic take on America shrugging off British rule, Rip Van Winkle is one of Washington Irving’s most famous works. First published in 1819 as part of a short story collection, the author admitted he had never visited the Catskills before settling on the location for his fantastical tale.

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