Staff Profile

Background

I joined the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics at Newcastle University in 2019, having previously spent three years as the Lumley Fellow in the Humanities at Magdalene College, Cambridge, before which I studied for my doctorate at Oxford. In 2022 I was awarded the Philip Leverhulme Prize for my work in literary studies and book history. 

My research interests span poetry, intellectual history, book history, and bibliography from the early modern period up to the present day. Common threads running through those interests include the communication of political ideas across diverse genres and material forms, and instances of 'book crime' ranging from seditious libel to forgery and theft. I am the author of four books, of which the most recent is The Book Forger (Chatto & Windus, 2024), a narrative account of the fakes, thefts, and deceptions perpetrated by the most notorious biblio-crook in modern history, Thomas James Wise.

I enjoy communicating my research in various different ways, ranging from scholarly articles and monographs to works of creative non-fiction aimed at general readers, combining detailed archival investigation with evocative storytelling. In previous roles I have organised public workshops with the Historical Association, the Bodleian Libraries, and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Recently I have been interviewed and consulted on programmes for the BBC and Sky Arts. I am a member of the Materiality, Artefacts and Technologies in Culture and History Research Group (MATCH).

Qualifications

MA (Oxon); MA (Exon); DPhil (Oxon)

Previous Positions

2016-2019: Lumley Fellow in the Humanities, Magdalene College, University of Cambridge

2013-2016: Retained Lecturer in English Literature, Jesus College, University of Oxford

Visiting Positions

2025: Visiting Fellow, All Souls College, University of Oxford

2019: Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of English Studies

2017: James M. Osborn Fellow in English Literature and History, Beinecke Library, Yale University

2014: Katharine F. Pantzer Jr. Fellow in Descriptive Bibliography, Houghton Library, Harvard University

Current Research

I am currently engaged in two major projects. (1) A substantial exploration of clandestine printing and the underground book trade in early eighteenth-century England that aims to transform our current understanding of politics, culture, and society in that era. (2) A scholarly edition of Pope's early poems for volumes one and two of The Oxford Edition of the Writings of Alexander Pope.

Postgraduate Supervision

My own work straddles literary studies, political thought, bibliography, and intellectual history, so I particularly welcome applications from postgraduate research students who wish to explore areas across those disciplines. My research on Pope, Swift, and literary culture during the Stuart and Hanoverian periods means I am particularly interested in supervising topics that bridge the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Current Postgraduate Students

Sam Bailey, 'Erotic Books in Eighteenth-Century England' (PhD)

Natasha Kee, 'The Stationers’ Company and the Privatisation of Press Regulation in Restoration England' (PhD)

Undergraduate

SEL1004: Introduction to Literary Studies II

SEL2202: Writing New Worlds, 1688-1789

Postgraduate

SEL8674: Research Methods

• Articles

  • Hone J. Forensic Bibliography. The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 2025, 119(1), 5-37.
  • Hone J. Pope's Scrapes and Ghosts. The Review of English Studies 2024, 75(319), 198-208.
  • Hone J. Savage before Johnson. The New Rambler 2023, 63, 3-13.
  • Hone J. Pope and the Blounts: Books Formerly at Mapledurham House. The Library 2023, 24(3), 343-370.
  • Hone J. David Edwards and the Later Stuart Underground Press. The English Historical Review 2022, 137(584), 80–108.
  • Hone J. Stop Press. History Today 2021, 71(7), 28-39.
  • Hone J. John Darby and the Whig Canon. The Historical Journal 2021, 64(5), 1257-1280.
  • Hone J, McLaverty J. The Progress of Johnson’s Shakespeare: Subscription, Text, and Printing. The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 2019, 113(2), 121-147.
  • Hone J. Pope, Bathurst, and the Duchess of Buckingham. Studies in Philology 2018, 115(2), 397-416.
  • Hone J, Skjönsberg M. On the Character of a “Great Patriot”: A New Essay Ascribed to Bolingbroke. Journal of British Studies 2018, 57(3), 445-466.
  • Hone J. Bolingbroke and Poetry. The Review of English Studies 2018, 69(292), 874-895.
  • Hone J. Daniel Defoe and the Whig Tradition in Satire. ELH 2017, 84(4), 865-890.
  • Hone J. Isaac Newton and the Medals for Queen Anne. Huntington Library Quarterly 2016, 79(1), 119-148.
  • Hone J. A New Portrait of Defoe in the Pillory. Notes and Queries 2016, 63(1), 70-71.
  • Hone J. Pope’s Lost Epic: Alcander, Prince of Rhodes and the Politics of Exile. Philological Quarterly 2015, 94, 245-266.
  • Hone J. Pope and the Politics of Panegyric. The Review of English Studies 2015, 66(273), 106-123.
  • Hone J. Politicising Praise: Panegyric and the Accession of Queen Anne. Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies 2014, 37(2), 147-157.

• Authored Books

  • Hone J. The Book Forger: The true story of a literary crime that fooled the world. London: Chatto & Windus, 2024.
  • Hone J. Alexander Pope in the Making. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.
  • Hone J. The Paper Chase: The Printer, the Spymaster, and the Hunt for the Rebel Pamphleteers. London: Chatto & Windus, 2020.
  • Hone J. Literature and Party Politics at the Accession of Queen Anne. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

• Book Chapters

  • Hone J. Politics. In: Cook D; Seager N, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Gulliver's Travels. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2023, pp.11-22.
  • Hone J. Defoe and Satire. In: Nicholas Seager and J. A. Downie, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Daniel Defoe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023.
  • Hone J. The Last Stuart Coronation. In: P. Kewes and A. McRae, ed. Stuart Succession Literature: Moments and Transformations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019, pp.132-145.
  • Hone J. Legal Constraints, Libellous Evasions. In: P. Bullard, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Eighteenth-Century Satire. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019, pp.525-541.

• Edited Book

  • Hone J, Rogers P, ed. Jonathan Swift in Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024.