Regency Radical: Selected Writings of William Hone

The English satirist William Hone (1780-1842) became famous for his brilliant self-defense and acquittal when tried in 1817 for parodying parts of the Book of Common Prayer. His trial for blasphemous libel went on record as one of the most hilarious in English history, but Hone’s reform-minded contemporaries, including Keats and Coleridge, viewed it as an important battle against a wave of government oppression. In this, the first comprehensive selection of Hone’s writings, David A. Kent and D. R. Ewen seek to expand our understanding of this writer, political radical, publisher, and bookseller as a major figure in the reform movement of the Regency period. Illustrated with over sixty woodcuts by Hone’s frequent collaborator, George Cruikshank, this book reveals the writer’s commitment to such issues as parliamentary reform, religious liberty, reform of asylums, and freedom of the press, while conveying the many dimensions of his humane personality. Regency Radical includes selections from Hone’s early radical writings, miscellaneous prose volumes, and letters displaying his amiable wit and engaging intimacy. The trials of 1817 are reprinted for the first time in over a century, and the drama of Hone’s legal battle with Lord Ellenborough, Chief Justice of England, remains gripping. Reprints of four of Hone’s most successful satires, including The Political House that Jack Built, appear along with Cruikshank’s woodcuts to recreate the look of the original publications. The volume features an introduction, a chronology of Hone’s life, a total of over seventy illustrations, and a selected bibliography.