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Author: Huggins, John Richard

Biography:

Huggins, John Richard (fl 1794-1809)

Though he published with the added middle name "Desborus" this was a typical joke: other versions are "Desbrough" and "Desbrosses." An immigrant from England, otherwise of unknown origins, he is first recorded in America performing with a company of actors in Rhode Island in 1793. He established himself as a barber and hairdresser in New York, operating first out of the basement of a coffee house, 1794-1800, and then from a shop at 92 Broadway where he also sold pomades and perfumes. He became a legendary character in the city, especially after 1801 when he started placing humorous poetic advertisements in the daily papers, composed by himself and by writers whom he paid well for their services. The collection of Hugginiana saw four printings in 1808 but was ignored or ridiculed by the critics. He is believed to have died soon after. (ancestry.com 2 May 2019; John Strachan, Advertising and Satirical Culture in the Romantic Period [2007] 227-54)

 

Books written (3):

[2nd edn.?] New York: printed [for the author] by H. C. Southwick, 1808