William Hone

William Hone (1780–1842) was an English writer, bookseller and satirist. A radical in the London of the Regency, he was tried three times in December 1817 for blasphemous and seditious libel over parodies of the liturgy and acquitted each time by juries, to great public rejoicing. With the artist George Cruikshank he produced The Political House that Jack Built (1819) and other best-selling satires on the government and the Prince Regent. In later years he turned to antiquarian compilation, producing The Every-Day Book (1825–26), The Table Book (1827) and The Year Book (1832), vast calendars of popular customs that remain sources for folklorists. He was a friend of Charles Lamb.