Alexander Pollock Watt is generally regarded as the first true literary agent.
Watt was born in Glasgow in 1837. While employed by an Edinburgh bookseller, he married publisher Alexander Strahan's sister Roberta in 1866. In 1871 he moved to London to begin working as a reader for Strahan's publishing business. By 1876 he was a partner in the firm, and by 1878 he was an advertising agent selling space in Strahan's various periodicals. Around 1878 he started working with author George MacDonald, a professional relationship that eventually led to Watt advertising himself as both a literary and advertising agent and creating the firm A. P. Watt & Co in 1881.
Over the following decade, Watt had become the leading literary agent in the UK, in the process creating business practices that became the standard for the commercial literary industry.Publishing Research QuarterlyBusiness History Vol. 62, Issue 6
Early years Alexander Pollock Watt was born on 28 October 1837 to James and Elizabeth (Pollock) Watt, in the Bridgeton district of Glasgow, Scotland. He was the oldest of five children.1861 England & Wales CensusBy the 1851 census, his family lived in Edinburgh, where his father was a bookbinder and bookseller.1851 Scotland CensusAlexander was self-educated through “incessant” reading.A. P. Watt & Kipling He remained in Edinburgh when the rest of the family moved to Carlisle, in Cumbria, England in 1853.James Watt & Son, Coffee Roasters In the 1861 Scotland census, he listed employment as a woolen drapers assistant in a fabric shop, and a lodger with another family.1861 Scotland Census
In 1866, Alexander married Roberta Stahan, the sister of Alexander Strahan, a London-based publisher, in Edinburgh.National Records of Scotland Their first son James was born the following year in Glasgow.National Records of Scotland Second son Alexander Strahan was born in Lewisham in 1869, highlighting the A. P. Watt family's relocation to London.England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915
Career By 1871 Watt began working as a reader for his brother-in-law's publishing business, in 1876 became a partner in the second incarnation of Strahan & Co, and by 1878 an advertising agent selling space in the firm's periodicals. That same year, he developed a professional relationship with the author George MacDonald that began Watt's work as a literary agent.A. P. Watt, Literary Agent
Legacy By 1909, Watt's position within the publishing industry was reflected in the list of clients he and his firm had represented since MacDonald 30 years previously, including Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, H. G. Wells, J. M. Barrie, Wilkie Collins, H. Rider Haggard, Bret Harte, Marie Corelli, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, and Jerome K. Jerome.
His clients' works were licensed to the major British and American publishers and editors of the day, including A & C Black, Chatto & Windus, Houghton Mifflin, Longmans, Methuen, Smith, Elder & Co., George Newnes, J. A. Spender, the Daily Chronicle, and The Illustrated London News.Letters To A.P. Watt
The agency became A. P. Watt & Son in 1892Watt: The Papers of A. P. Watt, and celebrated its centenary in 1975. After the end of family control, it become AP Watt, Ltd in 1982, and was bought by United Agents in 2012.The Bookseller
Death Watt died at his home at 29 Abbey Road, St. John's Wood, Middlesex, London, England on 3 November 1914.
Estate According to the probate register the effects of Watt's estate were England & Wales, National Probate Calendar, with his four sons as executors.
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External links
The Agent's Tale, The Guardian, 4 Aug 2001