GEORGE PHILIP (1799-1882) was a London geographical publisher, cartographer and globe maker and founder of the firm of George Philip and Son. He was born in 1799 in Aberdeenshire. He was apprenticed to William Grapel, a Liverpool book and map firm. He started his own business in 1834 in Liverpool publishing mostly educational material issued in tandem with John Bartholomew Sr, Augustus Petermann and William Hughes. In 1848 he was joined by his son George Philip Jr. In 1856 the firm moved to London, 32 Fleet Street, issuing a New General Atlas in that year. They also produced subsequent atlases the Imperial Library Atlas in 1864, a Select Atlas of Modern Geography in 1870, a Handy General Atlas in 1874 and an Imperial Atlas in 1890. During this time they also expanded the business to include cycling and motoring maps.
George Philip Jr (1823 – 1902) ran the firm until his death in 1902 by which time it had developed into a major publishing concern. His successors established the London Geographical Institute, a factory where they embraced modern printing techniques to produce economical but high quality maps and atlases. Philip & Son, being one of the oldest English publishing houses still in existence.
