Washington Irving (1783-1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat. He is best known for his short stories 'Rip Van Winkle' (1819) and 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'(1820), both of which appear in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. He wrote biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad and George Washington, as well as several histories of 15th-century Spain. Irving served as American ambassador to Spain in the 1840s. Irving was one of the first American writers to find acclaim in Europe and admirers included Lord Byron, Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley, and Walter Scott.

Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886) was an influential British artist and book illustrator. His work was exhibited by the Royal Academy and was elected to the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours in 1882. Among well-known admirers of his work were Gauguin and Van Gogh.