Rip Van Winkle Rip Van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who falls asleep in the Catskill Mountains and wakes up 20 years later, having missed the American Revolution. Irving wrote it while living in Birmingham, England, as part of the collection "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent." The story is set in New York's Catskill Mountains, but Irving later admitted, "When I wrote the story, I had never been on the Catskills." "Rip Van Winkle" is set
Sophie Gimber Kuhn Sophie Gimber Kuhn Sophie Gimber Kuhn (8 November 1838 – 1867) was an English actress from Temple Bar, London who came to the United States on a visit with her parents. She performed at the Winter Garden Theatre in September 1860. Her first role was "Nelly" in "All Hallow Eve". In a production which opened on December 24, 1860, Kuhn played "Lowenna" in Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving. The adaptation at the Winter Garden was produced by Joseph Jefferson, who played the part of Rip Van Winkle. In 1863, along with Kate Denin and Lucille Western, Kuhn performed in