John Timbs (/tɪmz/; 17 August 1801 – 6 March 1875) was an English author and antiquary.

He had early shown literary capacity, and when nineteen began to write for the Monthly Magazine.

A year later he became secretary to Sir Richard Phillips, its proprietor, and permanently adopted literature as a profession.

[1] He was successively editor of the Mirror of Literature, the Harlequin, The Literary World, and sub-editor of the Illustrated London News.

His published works amounted to more than one hundred and fifty volumes.