Books: Morning in the West

THE WESTERN JOURNALS OF WASHINGTON IRVING—Edited by John Francis McDermott—University of Oklahoma Press ($3.50).

Early in May, 1832, Washington Irving returned to New York after 17 years in Europe. He found his heart beating hard, and when New Yorkers asked him how long he meant to remain in the U.S. he answered: "As long as I live." He began to travel about the country, suddenly happier than he had ever been in his life.

His happiness was compounded of simple pleasures, the sight of the roads through the magnificent country, the cheerful little taverns, the abundance of good plain food, the clean fresh...