The modern reputation of John Reuben Thompson has three facets. As a poet he remains a curious, almost forgotten figure among nineteenth-century Southern men of letters. Twice since his death scholars tried to find him a place in the American canon, but both attempts failed to take hold. As an editor, journalist, and reviewer he earned a modest place among publishing luminaries of the nineteenth century, a status acquired chiefly through his efforts for the Southern Literary Messenger. As a biographical source Thompson provided testimony that aided both sides in the intense debate between detractors and defenders of Edgar Allan Poe regarding the character of the man before his death.

Thompson essentially lived the sort of existence that Poe had at one time imagined for himself. As a youth Poe expected to enter a life of Virginian quasi aristocracy, only to have his hopes dashed by his estrangement...