Alys Martha Philpot (January 1866-19 January 1929) was an English journalist, translator and one of the first female publishers in London through her company A.M. Philpot Limited.A Woman Publisher. Manchester Evening News, 10 February 1923, p 7.
Early life Alice ‘Alys’ Martha Philpot was born in 1866 in Shoreditch, London, the daughter of John Edward Philpot (1838-1910), a commercial traveller, and his wife Martha, née Walker.
Career Between 1890 and 1893, the year she got married, she wrote feature articles under the pseudonym 'Margery Lee' for newspapers in Newcastle, particularly for the Literary Supplement of The Newcastle Weekly Chronicle.Newcastle Weekly Chronicle 2 Dec 1893, p 4
By 1910, she was a member of the Poetry Society.The Times, 29 Dec 1910, p 4. In 1918 Philpot edited a collection of war poems and provided a preface to The Lyceum Book of War Verse.The Lyceum Book of War Verse, edited by Alys Eyre Macklin. London: Erskine Macdonald (1918)
In 1921, Philpot bought the business of McBride, Nast and Co. and started the publishing company A.M. Philpot Limited in premises on Great Russell Street, London.Manchester Evening News, 10 February 1923, p 7. This company published her translations of French short stories or novels in a series called ‘’Les Fleurs du France’’ by writers such as Maurice Level,The Shadow (1923). Translated from the French of L'Ombre by Maurice Level, introduction by Alys Eyre Macklin. London: A.M. Philpot. Maurice Rostand,The crystal coffin (1921). Translated from the French of Maurice Rostand, introduction by Alys Eyre Macklin. London: A.M. Philpot. and Henri DuvernoisThe holidays: a book of gay stories (1921). Translated from the French of Henri Duvernois, introduction by Alys Eyre Macklin. London: A.M. Philpot. The company also published novels by women writers such as Grace Ellison, Eliza Humphreys, Joan Kennedy and Mary Fullerton.
In 1922, Philpot offered advance royalties of £250 for the best story of ‘self-revelation’ submitted anonymously,Sunday Dispatch, 18 March 1923, p 2. the idea being to have people tell the actual stories of their lives.The Graphic, 10th May 1924, p 706 The stories of two women were published in 1923Two Women: Clare and Margaret (1923). London: A.M. Philpot. followed by stories of two men in 1924.Two Men: Manson and Smith (1924). London: A.M. Philpot.
Personal life On 25 November 1893, Alys Philpot married the painter and sculptor Thomas Eyre Macklin at St Margaret’s Church, Westminster. She was said to have been the model for some of her husband’s best work.Gifted woman gone. Liverpool Daily Post 21 January 1929, p 4.
In 1895, Alys Eyre Macklin and her husband were living in Brittany, France.Newcastle Weekly Chronicle, 27 Jun 1896, p 4 She had two sons, Garnett, born in 1895 and Ronald, born in 1900.
In 1917, her husband left her and she applied for a decree for the restoration of conjugal rights, which he did not comply with. The couple were divorced in November 1918 because of her husband’s infidelity.An Artist Divorced. The People, 24th November 1918, p5
Philpot died on 19 January 1929 in Bloomsbury, London aged 63.
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