author
Sir R. (Richard) Phillips
1767–1840
A lively and reform-minded publisher, he helped bring politics, education, and practical knowledge to a wide readership in Georgian and early Victorian Britain. He is especially remembered for founding the Monthly Magazine and for championing freedom of the press.
1 Audiobook
A Morning's Walk from London to Kew
by Sir R. (Richard) Phillips
About the author
Born in London in 1767, Richard Phillips worked first as a schoolteacher before becoming a bookseller and publisher. His career took shape in Leicester, where his radical politics brought him into trouble: he was imprisoned in the 1790s for selling Thomas Paine's Rights of Man. That mix of enterprise and conviction stayed with him for the rest of his life.
After moving to London, he built a remarkable publishing career and founded the Monthly Magazine in 1796. He became known for producing affordable, useful reading for a broad public, ranging from periodicals and educational works to practical reference books. His work reflected strong interests in popular education, political reform, and the spread of knowledge beyond elite circles.
Phillips was also noted as an early advocate of vegetarianism and wrote widely on social questions. Knighted in 1808, he remained a prominent and energetic figure in British print culture until his death in 1840. Today he stands out as one of those publishers who did more than print books: he helped shape what ordinary readers could learn about the world.