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Author: Holland, Edwin Clifford

Biography:

Holland, Edwin Clifford (1794-1824: WBIS)

"A South-Carolinian," to use one of his pseudonyms, Holland was born and died in Charleston SC. His parents were John and Jane Holland. His first volume of poetry (1813) was dedicated to his brother James Marshall of Savannah GA, his mother's son by a previous marriage. He trained and practised as a lawyer but also pursued literary interests, encouraged by a band of "fledgling bards" like himself in Charleston. According to his title-page, he sometimes used the nom-de-plume of "Orlando" for his newspaper verses. In 1812 he submitted two poems to a competition sponsored by a Philadelphia magazine for a naval song; one of them won and the other had an honourable mention, so both were published in the Port Folio in 1813. In 1815 he married Selina Parker; in 1818, he wrote a stage adaptation of Byron's Corsair for the local theatre. In 1822, as editor of the Charleston Times and in the wake of a slave uprising, he published a pro-slavery pamphlet advocating the colonization of free blacks; this led to further engagement in controversy. He died of yellow fever during an epidemic. (ANBO 30 Mar. 2019; Appleton)

 

Other Names:

  • Edwin C. Holland
 

Books written (1):

Charleston SC: printed for the author by J. Hoff, 1813