Moses Dresser Phillips

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.

Credits

MaryKate McMaster