Talk:William Gilmore Simms

Untitled
This comes straight from the 1911 Britannica:

In addition to the works mentioned above, Simms published the following poetry Southern Passages and Pictures, lyrical, Sentimental and descriptive poems (New York, 1839); Donna Florida, a tale (Charleston, 1843); Grouped Thoughts and Scattered Fancies, sonnets (Richmond, 1845); Areytos, or Songs of the South (1846); Lays of the Palmetto: a Tribute to the South Carolina Regiment in the War with Mexico (Charleston, 1848); The Eye and the IVsng, poems, (New York, 1848); The City of the Silent (1850). To dramatic literature he contributed Norman Maurice, or the Man of the People (Richmond, 1851); and Michael Bonham, or the Fall of the Alamo (Richmond, 1852). His romances of the American RevolutionThn Partisan (1835); Mellichampe (1836); Katherine Walton, or the Rebel of Dorchester (1851); and othersdescribe social life at Charleston, and the action covers the whole period, with portraits of the political and military leaders of the time. Of border tales the list includes Guy Rivers, a Tale of Georgia (1834); Richard Hurdis (1838); Border Beagles (1840); Beauchampe (1842); Helen Halsey (1845); The Golden Christmas (1852); and Charlemont (1856). The historical romances are The Yemassee (1835), dealing largely with Indian character and nature; Pelayo (1838); Count Julien (1845); The Damsel of Darien (1845); The Lily and the Totem; Vasconselos (1857), which he wrote under the assumed name of Frank Cooper; and The Cassique of Kiawah (1860). Other novels are Carl Werner (1838); Confession of the Blind Heart (1842); The Wigwam and the Cabin, a collection of short tales (1845-1846); Castle Dismal (1845); and Marie de Bernire (1853). Simmss other writings comprise a History of S. Carolina (Charleston, 1840); South Carolina in the Revolution (Charleston, 1853); A Geography of South Carolina (1843); lives of Francis Marion (New York, 1844); Capt. John Smith (1846); The Chevalier Bayard (1848) and Nathanael Green (1849); The Ghost of my Husband (1866); and War Poetry of the Southan edited volume(1866). Simms was also a frequent contributor to the magazines and literary papers, six of which he founded and conducted. In the discussion on slavery he upheld the views of the pro-slavery party. He edited the seven dramas doubtfully ascribed to Shakespeare, with notes and an introduction to See his biography (Boston, 1892), by Profeisor William P. Trent. - bibliographical List of the Separate Writings of W. G. Simms of liv~ uth Carolintz (New York, 1906) was compiled by 0. Wegelin.


 * This list is not comprehensive. I know of one poem off the top of my head that is not there; "The Broken Arrow," collected in The Book of My Lady. A Melange. -- Rob C (Alarob) 02:24, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Internal link suggestion & question
What was the name of the fictional Cassique of Kiawah Barony? I would like to add him (second fictional Cassique and fictional Barony) to my list of approximately 50 otherwise real Landgraves & Cassiques of colonial, "low country", South Carolina. I suggest an internal link on him from here to there; and the reverse. However I do not know how to do links. focusoninfinity/Jim Miller

NPOV
Is this article supposed to be about William Gilmore Simms, or the publications written by others who dissagreed with him? Simms was a great writer and deserves to be better represented than this. Focus on the man and his own literary accomplishments, period. S.A. - 02/06/2006

Taken from article:

"best known for his pro-slavery novel The Sword and the Distaff."

What references or proof is there that Mr. Simms is best known for this particular novel? I would actually think he would be known more for "The Yemassee," which many critics have openly stated was his best novel. I have removed this statement from the article until proof has been shown.


 * Actually, I have reinserted this info. You added some good info too (which I left and/or expanded on, as with Poe quote) but you can not remove info you disagree with. I have added the direct references for this info (which was at the bottom before but not directly links). I also believe that from a literary POV, The Cassique of Kiawah is Simms best novel, which other critics have also stated. He is best known today, though, for the Sword and the Distaff, mainly b/c of it is seen as pro-slavery propaganda by many literary folk and historians.


 * You are correct that Simms deserves to be remembered for his literary accomplishments and the article does this. However, he also deserves to be remembered for all aspects of who he was and, unfortunately, this also means his literary and other means of supporting slavery. Best, --Alabamaboy 14:28, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

More work needed
I cleaned this up somewhat based on the old Appleton's Cyclopedia article as well as presumably vetted Alabama encyclopedia and DocSouth articles cited, although I was unable to locate his census records on ancestry.com, so can't enumerate his slaveholdings or plantation although both seem quite important. Frankly, I'm very annoyed that the text said he was elected to the Alabama House of representatives and the DocSouth said it was the the South Carolina house. The library's now closing and I don't know when or if I'll be able to get back to this.Jweaver28 (talk) 01:00, 26 January 2019 (UTC)

Martin Faber
I will be adding a little more information about Simms's 1833/1837 novella Martin Faber, which is a more consequential work in the author's canon than is suggested by the current coverage on this page. It not only launched his fiction career, which would dominate the next 30+ years of his literary output, but it is also a foundational work of Southern Gothicism. I plan to add just a few sentences to fill out the information about this text.TAH9 (talk) 21:52, 8 April 2024 (UTC)