British Library Archives
The British Library houses the largest collection of Hone materials and
manuscripts anywhere. The volumes, briefly catalogued below, contain a great
deal of personal correspondence, drafts of parodies and other publications,
drafts of the advertised but never completed History of Parody, drafts of
Hone's unfinished autobiography, and so on. In addition to the materials
gathered specifically in the Hone Papers, the Additional Manuscripts also
contain a few stray Hone letters in the archives of his correspondents.
Some idea of the contents of the collection may be gleaned from the following
brief descriptions.
Add. MS. 27808
Place Papers, Vol. 20. ff. 314-16, letter to Place (describes memories of Thomas Spence)
Add. MS. 34585
Correspondence with Dr. S. Butler, 1824, 1825. Hone's letters can be found at ff. 318, 376, and 378.
Add. MS. 34586
Correspondence with Dr. S. Butler, 1824, 1825. Hone's letters can be found at ff. 1 and 4.
Add. MS. 36458
Letters to J. C. Hobhouse, 1820-21. Hone's letters, ff. 95, 148.
Add. MS. 36459
Letters to J. C. Hobhouse. Hone letter, fol. 189.
Add. MS. 37949
Letters to F. Place, 1817-1830. Hone letters, ff. 46, 92, 99, 144, 148, and 233.
Add. MS. 37950
Letter to F. Place, f. 79.
Add. MS. 38108
Letter to John Hunt, f. 189.
Add. MS. 40108
Hone Papers. Contains much correspondence and plans for the never completed History of Parody. Also, a letter from James Hone of Weymouth, 1819, fol. 188.
Note: Add. MS. 40109 through 40118 present an array of widely diverse parodies collected by or written by Hone. Some of the materials seem to have been gathered in preparation for the 1817 libel trials; other materials were probably collected in anticipation of the History of Parody that Hone proposed to write.
Add. MS. 40109
Hone Papers. In Hone's hand, "Processus Luciferi . . ."
Add. MS. 40110
Hone Papers. Gascoigne text.
Add. MS. 40111
Hone Papers. History of "Judas Iscariot."
Add. MS. 40112
Hone Papers. Draft of an original, unpublished Hone parody
Add. MS. 40113
Hone Papers. Misc. parodies; includes Lilburne materials.
Add. MS. 40114
Hone Papers. Misc. parodies.
Add. MS. 40115
Hone Papers. Misc. parodies; draft of part of Pol Litany
Add. MS. 40116
Hone Papers. Misc. parodies.
Add. MS. 40117
Hone Papers. Misc. parodies.
Add. MS. 40119
Hone Papers. Hone's notes for Tallies article, Times 1834
Add. MS. 40120
Hone Papers. Letters and other correspondence. Includes a letter from Rose Hone, 1825, fol. 231, and Hone's engraved portrait, 1818, fol. 1.
Add. MS. 40121
Hone Papers. Hone's autograph autobiography, with notes. Very fragmentary.
Add. MS. 40122
Hone Papers. Very miscellaneous papers and letters.
Add. MS. 40272
Hone Papers. The Political Litany copy, f. 309.
Add. MS. 40856
Letters, materials on asylum scheme from 1814, a draft sermon, and Table Book accounts. Also, a letter to Alice Hone, 1840, fol. 50, and delicate Cruikshank drawings of William and Sarah Hone, ff. 7a-7b.
Add. MS. 41071
Correspondence.
Add. MS. 43645
Letter to T. Sharp, 1825, fol. 376.
Add. MS. 50746
Correspondence, many from family papers. Copies of important genealogical materials such as a list of Hone's children with birth dates, a copy of William and Sarah Hone's marriage registry entry, and so forth.
Add. MS. 70926
Two short notes regarding Hone's finances in the 1830s.