ANCIENT MYSTERIES DESCRIBED, ESPECIALLY THE ENGLISH MIRACLE PLAYS, FOUNDED ON APOCRYPHAL NEW TESTAMENT STORY

First Edition 1823, Privately printed for William Hone, Ludgate Hill, London. Octavo, 14.5 x 23cm; x [2]  299 [6]. Original paper boards with title to spine. Uneven edges. Title page in red and black print. Illustrated with 4 copper engravings: one, the frontispiece; one – Giants in Guildhall – hand coloured; and one a foldout – Hearne’s Descent into Hell: and 9 wood engravings. Two of these are by George Cruikshank.

William Hone (1780 – 1842) was an English writer, satirist and bookseller. His victorious court battle against government censorship in 1817 marked a turning point in the fight for British press freedom.

Hone is known today chiefly in three historical contexts:In 1817 he successfully defended himself against the Attorney General's ex officio charges of blasphemy and sedition, thus earning a significant place in the history of a free press in England. In 1819-21 he collaborated with George Cruikshank to produce a series of illustrated satirical pamphlets whose wide popularity helped define the public reaction to such events as the "Peterloo" massacre and the Queen Caroline affair. In 1825-27 he edited and published the Every-Day Book, an antiquarian miscellany that was widely read and influential throughout the nineteenth century.

George Cruikshank (1792 – 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience.Cruikshank's early career was renowned for his social caricatures of English life for popular publications. He achieved early success collaborating with William Hone in his political satire The Political House That Jack Built (1819).

He gained notoriety with his political prints that attacked the royal family and leading politicians. In 1820 he received a royal bribe of £100 for a pledge "not to caricature His Majesty" (George IV of the United Kingdom) "in any immoral situation". His work included a personification of England named John Bull, who was developed from about 1790 in conjunction with other British satirical artists such as James Gillray, and Thomas Rowlandson.

In his lifetime he created nearly 10,000 prints, illustrations, and plates. There are collections of his works in the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. A Royal Society of Arts blue plaque commemorates Cruikshank at 293 Hampstead Road in Camden Town.

Condition: Published in its original paper binding ready for re-binding as it was then. The front boards is detached and rear board nearly so.  The spine has paper loss above the title and a split down the middle. Age toning, offset of engraving on title page, and some foxing to first few pages. Text block tight. Engravings bright. Good.