Works in the Collection      Manuscript Materials      Biographies      Other Resources

William Gilmore Simms, born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1806, was the popular and prolific author of romances such as The Yemassee, The Partisan, Guy Rivers, and The Lily and the Totem. Although he was admitted to the South Carolina bar at the age of twenty-one, he decided to pursue his love of literature rather than the law. Simms wrote a wide variety of works, including poetry, plays, histories of the South, novelettes, biographies, magazine essays, medleys, and literary criticism. He chose a range of settings for his romances, including colonial America, revolutionary America, and the American frontier.

Works in the EAF Collection

As Good as a Comedy; or, The Tennessean's Story. By an Editor (1852)

Beauchampe (1842) [Volume 1] [Volume 2]

The Book of My Lady: A Melange. By a Bachelor Knight (1833) (Restricted)

Border Beagles: A Tale of Mississippi (1840) [Volume 1] [Volume 2] (Restricted)

Carl Werner, an Imaginative Story: With Other Tales of Imagination (1838) [Volume 1] [Volume 2] (Restricted)

The Cassique of Kiawah: A Colonial Romance (1859) (Restricted)

Charlemont; or, the Pride of the Village. A Tale of Kentucky (1856) (Restricted)

Count Julian; or. The Last Days of the Goth (1845) (Restricted)

The Damsel of Darien (1839) [Volume 1] [Volume 2] (Restricted)

Eutaw. A Sequel to The Forayers, or, The Raid of the Dog-Days. A Tale of the Revolution (1856) (Restricted)

Father Abbot; or, The Home Tourist. A Medley (1849) (Restricted)

The Forayers; or, The Raid of the Dog-Days (1855) (Restricted)

The Golden Christmas: A Chronicle of St. John's, Berkeley. Compiled from the Notes of a Briefless Barrister (1852) (Restricted)

Guy Rivers: A Tale of Georgia (1834) [Volume 1] [Volume 2] (Restricted)

Helen Halsey; or, The Swamp State of Conelachita. A Tale of the Borders (1845) (Restricted)

The Kinsmen; or, The Black Riders of Congaree (1841) [Volume 1] [Volume 2] (Restricted)

The Lily and the Totem; or, The Huguenots in Florida (1850) (Restricted)

Marie de Bernier: A Tale of the Crescent City (1853) (Restricted)

Martin Faber (1833)

Mellichampe: A Legend of the Santee (1836) [Volume 1] [Volume 2] (Restricted)

The Partisan: A Tale of the Revolution (1835) [Volume 1] [Volume 2] (Restricted)

Pelayo: A Story of the Goth (1838) [Volume 1] [Volume 2] (Restricted)

The Prima Donna: A Passage from City Life (1844) (Restricted)

Richard Hurdis (1838) [Volume 1] [Volume 2]

"A Sea Piece" from The Atlantic Club-Book (1834) (Restricted)

Southward Ho! A Spell of Sunshine (1854) (Restricted)

Vasconselos: A Romance of the New World by Frank Cooper [pseud] (1853) (Restricted)

The Wigwam and the Cabin (1845) [Volume 1] [Volume 2]

The Yemassee: A Romance of Carolina (1835) [Volume 1] [Volume 2] (Restricted)

EAF Manuscript Materials

Letter: Simms to Orville James Victor (no date)

Letter: Simms to James Thomas Fields (September 30, no year)

Letter: Simms to Sidney Babcock (August 18, 1842)

Letter: Simms to R. S. Chilton (April 3, 1854)

Letter: Simms to John Esten Cooke, with replies from Cooke and his publisher (July 4, 1867)

Letter: Simms to Eugene L. Didier (August 22, 1867)

Engraving: W. G. Simms, at a desk

Engraving: W. G. Simms, profile

Contemporary Biographies

From Oscar Fay Adams, A Dictionary of American Authors (1901)

From Samuel Austin Allibone, A Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1900)

From Evert A. Duyckinck, Cyclopaedia of American Literature (1856)

Other Resources

A Guide to the William Gilmore Simms Collection from UVA Special Collections