Philip Pendleton Cooke (26 October 1816-20 January 1850) is one of the many American writers of whom it must be said that he died too young, full of talent that was demonstrated in a few published pieces, and without ever having realized the literary success that a long and productive life might have brought him. Cooke, a lawyer who hated practicing law, found his pleasure in his writing, in society, and in outdoor sports. An avid rider, fisherman, and hunter, he died, at the age of thirty-three, of pneumonia contracted after wading into the icy Shenandoah River to retrieve a wounded bird. He had published only thirty-eight poems, nine pieces of fiction, and eight essays. There are also a number of unsigned items which might be attributed to Cooke, and a couple of dozen letters, but it all adds up to but a fraction of what this personable, intelligent, and...