Explores the mutually shaping influences of legal developments over the eighteenth century and the expression and form of satire in the period, from satirical literature to non-verbal forms including caricature. Libel and Lampoon will change the way we think about satire-both its literary history and its generic ambiguity-while revising our understanding of the history of libel law and the freedom of the press more generally. This well-researched, well-written, rigorous and witty book on the complex and symbiotic relationship between satire and the law makes important and original contributions to the study of satire and the field of law and literature. Bricker convincingly demonstrates that satire and the law mutually influenced and shaped one another through a series of thorny skirmishes around questions of meaning and authorial ownership at the heart of Enlightenment thought.