John Camden Hotten
John Camden Hotten (12 September 1832, Clerkenwell – 14 June 1873, Hampstead) was an English bibliophile and publisher. He is best known for his clandestine publishing of numerous erotic and pornographic titles.
Life
Hotten was born John William Hotten in Clerkenwell, London to a family of Cornish origins. His father was William Hotten of Probus, Cornwall, a master carpenter and undertaker; his mother was Maria Cowling of Roche, Cornwall. At the age of fourteen Hotten was apprenticed to the London bookseller John Petheram, where he acquired a taste for rare and unusual books. He spent the period from 1848 to about 1853 in America but by mid-1855 had opened a small bookshop in London at 151a Piccadilly and went on to found the publishing business under his own name which after his death became Chatto & Windus.[1]
Hotten was a member of the Ethnological Society of London, which he joined in 1867.[2] His literary knowledge and intelligence brought him a large circle of acquaintances. He died in Hampstead, 14 June 1873, and was buried on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery. His publishing business was subsequently bought from his widow by Chatto & Windus.[3]
Author
Hotten was a compiler of an
Hotten contributed weekly articles of literary news to the
Publisher
Hotten's perseverance established him among the best-known publishers, and he moved to a larger shop. In 1866, the publisher Moxon issued Algernon Charles Swinburne's Poems and Ballads, which brought a charge of indecency and forced Moxon to withdraw the work from circulation.[3][7] Hotten offered himself as the poet's publisher, and issued the volume in dispute as well as Swinburne's response to his critics.[8] Cecil Lang claims in his preface to Swinburne's Letters that Hotten had effectively blackmailed Swinburne into providing him with pornographic verse.[9] Hotten subsequently published Swinburne's Song of Italy (1867) and William Blake: a Critical Essay (1868).[6]
Hotten was also a collector, author and clandestine publisher of
Hotten was the first publisher to introduce into England the humorous and other works of American writers, including
Family
Around 1859, Hotten married Charlotte Stringer, by whom he had three daughters.
Notes
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/13859. Retrieved 6 November 2013. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ The Journal of the Ethnological Society of London. Trübner. 1869. p. xxi. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ Hotten, John Camden Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine at GetCited
- ^ Library of Congress Online Catalog at http://catalog.loc.gov/ Archived 5 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine. The full title is The Original List of Persons of Quality, Emigrants, Religious Exiles, Political Rebels, Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years, Apprentices, Children Stolen, Maidens Pressed, and Others, who went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600–1700. With their Ages, the Localities where they Formerly Lived in the Mother Country, the Names of the Ships in which they Embarked, and Other Interesting Particulars. From MSS. Preserved in the State Paper Dept. Of Her Majesty's Public Record Office, England.
- ^ a b c Library of Congress Online Catalog at http://catalog.loc.gov/ Archived 5 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 0-691-05919-5.
- ISBN 0-520-20729-7.
- ISBN 0-521-78076-4, p.203
- ^ Thomas, Donald Serrell (1969). A long time burning: the history of literary censorship in England. Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 270.
- ^ Holmes, Oliver Wendell (1872). Wit and humour: poems; with an introduction by J.C. Hotten
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ Twain, Mark (1871). Screamers. London: John Camden Hotten.
References
- ISBN 0-8047-1842-3, p. 307.
- Simon Eliot, "Hotten: Rotten: Forgotten? An Apologia for a General Publisher",
- Attribution
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Hotten, John Camden". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
External links
- Oxford DNB entry for John Camden Hotten
- Works by John Camden Hotten at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about John Camden Hotten at Internet Archive
- Slang Dictionary: Etymological, Historical, and Anecdotal By John Camden Hotten. 1874 ed. at Internet Archive
- John Camden Hotten at Library of Congress, with 51 library catalogue records