University of Virginia Library

III

The student of American literature is interested in the Album primarily because it contains some of the first published writings of an important literary figure. Most of Simms's contributions are no better than what would be expected from the pen of an inexperienced young author steeped in Scott and Byron; but occasionally there is a flash of vigor and gusto that anticipates the work of the mature Simms. Already apparent are his ability to tell a story and his diffuse style. It is impossible to determine exactly how much of the Album is Simms's handiwork, but probably he wrote considerably more than the fifty-six items that can be definitely ascribed to him. These contributions consist of forty-four poems, four reviews, and eight works of fiction of varying length. There can be little doubt as to Simms's authorship of the forty-four poems: all are signed with pseudonyms proved to be his and (as has been stated) twenty-five were later republished in volumes of his poetry. The four book reviews and a series of three "sketches" appear under common pen names of Simms—"G." and "S.," respectively. The other fictional items—at least two of which are best classified as novelettes—bear five different noms de plume: "E—," "P.," "Sydney," and "Triptolemus Twig."[28]

The poems by Simms in the Album are signed with six pseudonyms: "Almirez," "Wilton," "Florio," "S.G.W.," "M.E.S.," "T.G.," and "G." As a whole, these selections are not distinguished poetry, but they represent the best to appear in the Album, and several of them ("The Captive," "The Miniature," "Shadows," "Come seek the ocean's depths with me," and "Ruins") are almost as good as any that Simms ever wrote. It is perhaps significant that Simms republished all but three of the poems signed "Almirez," which at the time was apparently his favorite nom de plume.

The book reviews are notable chiefly for their independence and fairmindedness;[29] the young critic seems already to have realized that if his

opinions were to be of value they must be independently formed, and that if his critical writings were to possess merit, they must attempt to analyze both virtues and defects, without compromising his own standards of excellence and without regard to the author's reputation or popularity. Although the five reviews are largely devoted to synopses of the books involved, either in his introductory or in his closing remarks Simms attempted an estimate of the book as a piece of literature. Perhaps the best of the reviews is "The Christian Indian," which combines a pleasing style with some critical acumen.

The three "Sketches,"[30] which in reality are a connected series of brief tales, are marred by the sentimentality and the gloomy sensationalism that mark the excesses of the Romantic movement. They are good examples of the misguided zeal of the inexperienced writer under the spell of Byron and the Gothic novelists. Simms was later to learn that his forte was the "realistic" depiction of the historical events of his own state, not the portrayal of strange scenes in foreign or nameless lands. The best that can be said for these sketches is that they make easy, pleasant reading in the popular fashion of their day.[31]

Two other of Simms's contributions to the Album, "Country Comforts" and "The Return," might also best be labelled "sketches" rather than short stories. Each revolves about a single humorous incident. Although the intended humor of "Country Comforts" is not altogether successful, the piece is an interesting attempt to record the manners, the dialect, and the customs observed at a country inn. "The Return" has to do with the oversolicitous gentleman who is given a tweak of the nose as reward for his efforts to rescue his young lover-friend from the kisses of a beautiful maiden.[32]

Simms's authorship of "The Vision," a fanciful short story of the pursuit of happiness, is established by "Numpo" in the article already referred to. "Numpo's" essay not only gives clear evidence that Simms was one of the editors of the Album; it also establishes several new pen names for Simms and—more important—reveals that his contributions were both varied and prolific. Although no names are given, as has been already demonstrated the essay is helpful in that it lumps together unsigned articles and articles

signed with various pseudonyms as coming from the same person. For example, the following paragraph identifies the author of "The Corsair," signed "G.," and the author of "The Vision," signed "T.G.," as one and the same: Since "G." is an established nom de plume of Simms, "T.G." can be added to the long list of his pseudonyms, and "The Vision" and a poem entitled "Lafayette's Farewel[l] Stanzas" added to his canon.

"Numpo" also confirms Simms's authorship of the two novelettes published serially, "The Robber—an Eastern Tale" and "Moonshine." "The Robber," signed "Sydney," appeared as the featured work of fiction in the first seven numbers of the Album; it is another Gothic tale of terror, equipped with a villainous protagonist, an innocent heroine, gloomy caves with secret passages, a flesh-devouring ghoul, and fierce voracious birds. It anticipates in a way "The Confessions of a Murderer," which in turn became the basis for Martin Faber (1833).[34]

The second short story or novelette, "Moonshine," appearing under the pseudonym "Triptolemus Twig," begins in the number before "The Robber" terminates, and continues through twelve more installments. Even without "Numpo's" confirmation, there is enough internal evidence to convince one of Simms's authorship. Although the tale lacks unity, and its author changes his design after it is well under way,[35] "Moonshine" appears almost unmistakably to be a forerunner of the first of Simms's "Revolutionary Romances," The Partisan (1835). "Moonshine" is laid in South Carolina just before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War and, like the novel, has as one of its leading characters a Colonel Walton, who is a British sympathizer at the beginning of the "rebellion" and the widowed father of the beautiful and charming heroine—Charlotte in "Moonshine," Katherine in The Partisan. In each case the heroine has a sympathetic maiden aunt and—more important—loves a partisan leader in General Marion's army. To carry the striking similarities even further, in both the story and the novel a decisive battle is fought near Colonel Walton's plantation.

"Numpo's" awe at the number and the variety of contributions pulled from the pockets of the productive "Poet" tempts speculation as to what other "dishes of Literature" may have been written by Simms. The quotation immediately preceding Chapter IX of "Moonshine" offers a clue:

The signature "Myself" immediately arouses curiosity: could Simms be quoting himself? Perhaps Simms, like Scott, made up quotations for mottoes when he could not find anything suitable in the works of other poets. There is a poem in the Album signed "Myself," but the quotation is not from it. Included also are four essays by "Myself," one of which reads very much like the work of an editor of the Album: Admittedly, these five pieces cannot be safely assigned to Simms on the basis of this slight evidence; since it has been demonstrated, however, that he contributed heavily to the Album, even faint clues should not be overlooked.

And if one accepts internal or circumstantial evidence, at least nine other works (excluding "Numpo's" essay) can be added to the list of probable contributions by Simms. These nine pieces consist of two brief poems and an essay by "M."; two poems by "Edwin"; a "tale" by "Amirald"; a sketch by "Jeremiah Birdeye"; and two unsigned editorials. "M." is thought to be Simms because he used that pseudonym in 1828-1829 and again in 1845;[37] one of the poems by "Edwin," "Song" (beginning "Ah! say not, say not, love is sweet"), is similar to "Say'st Thou That Love is Sweet?" included in Areytos; or, Songs of the South (1846); "Zamor and Zuelieme—An Arabiam [sic] Tale" by "Amirald," written in a style characteristic of Simms, has the exotic setting, the beautiful heroine, and the dashing hero favored by him at this early period. It is also worth noting that "Zuelieme" (with a slightly modified spelling) appears again in Simms's work as the heroine in The Cassique of Kiawah (1859). "Not At Home"

by "Jeremiah Birdeye," a sketch consisting of the conversations among members of the "club of Choice Spirits" in Charleston, is an attempt at the Spectator and Blackwood's "Noctes Ambrosianae" idea that he was to try again in the Cosmopolitan (1833) and to think of trying in the Southern and Western Monthly Magazine and Review (1845).[38] "Not At Home" contains some of the salty humor and vigor characteristic of Simms at his best. The two unsigned editorials, almost unmistakably by Simms, are mentioned elsewhere.[39] For want of evidence one cannot say definitely, but the possibility exists that most of the Album was written by Simms.

In summary, then—whether or not one accepts the doubtful assignments mentioned above—it has been shown that Simms actively engaged in writing for the Album as well as in directing its editorial policy. Though crude in themselves, his contributions represent the spade work for some of his best poems and for at least one of his major novels. The experience of serving as an editor of the Album must have been invaluable to him, for it gave him not only an organ for the publication of his own juvenilia (and one suspects that this was not a minor attraction to the young editor), but also an opportunity to formulate a policy for his future, larger-scale editorial ventures. Already he had learned to strike out boldly and fearlessly as a critic; and already he had hit what was to be the keynote of his career as a magazine editor: the advancement of Southern literature.