Browse Exhibits (3 total)

Moses Dresser Phillips

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Moses Dresser Phillips (1813-1859) was the senior member of Phillips, Sampson and Company, a prominent Antebellum publishing firm, and the founder of The Atlantic Monthly.

Moses's contributions to American culture are often overlooked because he is simply noted as the founding publisher of The Atlantic Monthly.  In fact, the publisher's contributions to American literature and culture go deeper, and originate in the book trade where Phillips demonstrated creative risk-taking, leadership, and an ability to "read" public taste.  Moses Dresser Phillips prepared himself well for an undertaking such as the Atlantic Monthly, having utilized personal and professional networks, listened to consumers through market offering and response, advertised widely, learned lessons, and exerted leadership on the important issue of slavery.

By 1857, Moses Dresser Phillips could "read" the "American people" and he had spared no expense to make sure that consumers also knew the Phillips, Sampson and Company name.  Having experienced highs and lows in his business career, Phillips understood that knowledge of consumer taste and audience familiarity with one’s firm were more crucial elements for success than any specific author’s talent for writing history, poetry, comedy or philosophy.  Although they are rarely mentioned, Phillips and his firm were active and important players on the Antebellum literary marketplace, a group of men whom the powerful Harpers worked hard to outwit and to defame as elitist.

A study of Moses Dresser Phillips not only reveals the powerful presence and enterprising strategies of this wise man, but also corrects the misconception that the intended and actual audiences for his Atlantic were simply highbrow in nature. Instead, the Atlantic Monthly was designed to attract and to provide leadership on "literature, art and politics" for the constantly expanding wide audience of readers familiar with the Phillips, Sampson and Company imprint. 

 

This exhibition introduces Moses Dresser Phillips and gives an overview of his publishing career.

 

The content on this site is based on my dissertation and my continuing work on Moses Dresser Phillips and his Boston publishing firm, Phillips, Sampson and Company.

 


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

People in Moses Dresser Phillips's World: Phillips, Sampson and Company Authors

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This exhibition introduces the authors  Moses Dresser Phillips interacted with and whose work his Boston firm published. 

The authors are listed in alphabetical order.  In many instances the items include images of the authors.  If not, the items include the author's name or the title page of one of the author's imprints. Clicking on  someone's picture, or the book representing him or her, will lead to the metadata about the individual. At that point, it is possible to link to his or her WorldCat identity, to biographical information, and to many of the books he or she published, as well as to see the metadata associated with the individual. To the right of each author is a list of his or her Phillips, Sampson and Company imprint(s).  It is possible to link to many of these imprints.

For some authors, there is also a Voyant word cloud for at least one imprint.  Clicking on the word cloud will lead to the metadata for the imprint.  Most of these imprint items include links to the book, as well as links to Voyant.  The Voyant pages for the books present a variety of options for analyzing the texts.  To learn more about Voyant, see my guide to Text Analysis With Voyant.

The content in this exhibition is based on my dissertation and my continuing work on Moses Dresser Phillips and his Boston publishing firm, Phillips, Sampson and Company.

 


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Phillips, Sampson and Company Authors and Their Imprints

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This exhibition highlights Phillips, Sampson and Company's many authors and imprints, sorted by imprint year.

The top section of each year presents a gallery of authors, sorted alphabetically by last name.  Some authors have images associated with them, while others list the author's name. Clicking on  someone's picture, or the book representing him or her, will lead to the metadata about the individual. At that point, it is possible to link to his or her WorldCat identity, to biographical information, and to many of the books he or she published, as well as to see the metadata associated with the individual.  Underneath the individual's picture, or the book representing him or her, is the author's name, lifespan, nationality, and imprint(s) for that year.  Where possible, there is a link to the imprint from archive.org or Haithi Trust.

In addition, the bottom section includes links to more detailed information about a sample of imprints.  Clicking on the word cloud will lead to the metadata for the imprint.  Most of these imprint items include links to the book, as well as links to Voyant.  The Voyant pages for the books present a variety of options for analyzing the texts.  To learn more about Voyant, see my guide to Text Analysis With Voyant.

The content in this exhibition is based on my dissertation and my continuing work on Moses Dresser Phillips and his Boston publishing firm, Phillips, Sampson and Company.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.