John Camden Hotten who published and possibly compiled A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant and Vulgar Words (1859), which is attributed to 'An Antiquary' who may well have been Hotten himself had a bad reputation as publisher: he may have been a blackmailer, and he certainly seems to have exploited his authors. He pirated Mark Twain and Bret Harte, but printed an expurgated edition of Whitman's Leaves of Grass (edited by William Michael Rossetti), and rescued Swinburne's Poems and Ballads when the original publisher became too frightened to go on. He is said to have died from eating too many pork chops. Swinburne, ungratefully, remarked that his death was an argument against cannibalism. Hotten's publishing house was taken over by Chatto and Windus.


Last modified 13 June 2006