John Timbs (1801-1875) was an English antiquarian, born in Clerkenwell, London. He was educated at a private school at Hemel Hempstead, and in his sixteenth year apprenticed to a printer at Dorking. By the age of nineteen he had begun writing for the Monthly Magazine. A year later he became secretary to Sir Richard Phillips, its proprietor, and permanently adopted writing as a profession. He was successively editor of the Mirror of Literature, the Harlequin, the Literary World, and sub-editor of the Illustrated London News. In 1834 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.[EB] This unique book, written at the height of the social sway of the London gentlemen's clubs, is informed by Timbs' long experience in the city's literary and journalistic circles. For a printer's mark, the title page features a gridiron used for grilling beefsteaks in the clubs, and the book's cover is inscribed with the appropriate motto: "Beef & Liberty."

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