author
Robert Kemp Philp
1819–1882
Best remembered for turning useful knowledge into lively, practical reading, this Victorian journalist and compiler helped bring information about home life, science, and everyday questions to a wide popular audience.
3 Audiobooks
Enquire within upon everything The great Victorian-era domestic standby
by Robert Kemp Philp
About the author
Born in Falmouth in 1819, Robert Kemp Philp was an English journalist, author, and Chartist. Early in his career he was active in radical politics, and reference sources describe him as part of the Chartist movement before he later became much better known for popular writing and compiling.
Philp made his name by producing practical, accessible books for ordinary readers. He is especially associated with Enquire Within Upon Everything, along with other works on domestic life, science, history, and general knowledge that were designed to be useful as well as entertaining. That mix of instruction and readability helped make him a familiar Victorian household name.
He died in 1882. Although he is not as widely remembered now as some of his contemporaries, his work captures a very recognizable 19th-century ambition: to gather the world’s knowledge and place it within reach of everyday readers.