John Camden Hotten (12 September 1832, Clerkenwell – 14 June 1873, Hampstead) was an English bibliophile and publisher.
Hotten was born in Clerkenwell, London to a family of Cornish origins. He spent the period 1848–1856 in America and on his return opened a small bookshop in London at 151a Piccadilly, and founded the publishing firm later known as Chatto & Windus.
He was a compiler of an English language dictionary of slang: first published in 1859 under the title A dictionary of modern slang, cant, and vulgar words, the book was reprinted numerous times.
Hotten was also a collector, author and clandestine publisher of pornographic works such as The Romance of Chastisement, Exhibition of Female Flagellants and the pornographic comic opera Lady Bumtickler's Revels, some in a series entitled The Library Illustrative of Social Progress. He was an associate of the poet Algernon Charles Swinburne, publishing his Poems and Ballads after Moxon and Co. rejected them. However, Cecil Lang claims in his preface to Swinburne's Letters that Hotten had effectively blackmailed Swinburne into providing him with pornographic verse.
Famous quotes containing the word john:
“To John I owed great obligation;
But John, unhappily, thought fit
To publish it to all the nation:
Sure John and I are more than quit.”
—Matthew Prior (1664–1721)