James Dunwoody Brownson De Bow (10 July 1820-27 February 1867), statistician and magazinist, is best known today as editor of De Bow's Review, one of the Old South's most widely circulated and influential journals. He was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and died while visiting his brother in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Before launching the Review from New Orleans in 1846, De Bow had distinguished himself in literature at the College of Charleston, where he was graduated in 1843. Essays on biography, science, and economics--published while he was still in college--revealed his competence and were fairly well received. In searching for a vocation De Bow seriously considered, but rejected, religion and politics; and after a sketchy preparation at law he joined D. K. Whitaker's Southern Quarterly Review in Charleston as an assistant and frequently contributed articles on political and economic questions. His popularity was enhanced when British and French statesmen quoted in debates...