author
1863–1917
An early 20th-century writer on art and civilization, he is best known for thoughtful books that connect architecture, culture, and everyday human life. His work has a reflective, wide-ranging feel that still appeals to readers interested in how art grows out of the world around it.
by L. March (Lisle March) Phillipps
Born in 1863 and usually published as L. March Phillipps, Lisle March Phillipps wrote about art, architecture, and the shape of human society. Surviving catalog and book records confirm major works including The Works of Man and Art and Environment, books that show a strong interest in the built world and the ways culture is formed through human effort.
A later introduction to The Works of Man notes that he also wrote Form and Colour and Europe Unbound, and that he died on January 31, 1917 while working on an edition of the letters of Mrs. Drew, a daughter of William Ewart Gladstone. Taken together, those references suggest a writer drawn not just to aesthetics, but to history, politics, and public life as well.
Although he is not widely known today, Phillipps stands out as a serious, curious essayist of his period. His books are likely to interest listeners who enjoy older nonfiction that moves freely between art, ideas, and the larger story of civilization.