George Moreby Acklom (17 November 1870 – 26 October 1959), was a British writer, editor, literary adviser and critic based in New York City, principally with the publisher E.P. Dutton, ^{[1] [2]} and the father of the Hollywood actor David Manners. ^[3]

Life and career

George Moreby Acklom was born on 17 November 1870 at Nagpore, India, to English parents. ^[4] He was the brother of military figure Cecil Ryther Acklom and educated at Bedford Modern School in England, ^{[5] [6]} before graduating BA from Queens' College, Cambridge in 1891. ^[4]

After his graduation from Cambridge, Acklom went to Canada, where he was initially employed as headmaster of Harrow House School in Halifax, Nova Scotia. ^[7] He then moved to New York City in 1907 to start a career as a literary critic and editor with E.P. Dutton Publishing Company. ^{[1] [8]}

Acklom was a prolific book reviewer, editor, translator and contributor. He wrote the introduction to Richard Maurice Bucke's book Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind, which had originally been published by E.P. Dutton in 1901. ^{[9] [10]} He was also an editor of John Denison Champlin's encyclopaedia, publisher of research and critiques on the life of the novelist Samuel Butler, and the translator of The Red Gods. ^{[11] [12] [13]}

Acklom married Lilian Manners in 1897 and they had two children, both of whom were born in Nova Scotia: Dorothea Cecily in 1898 and Rauff de Ryther Daun Acklom in 1900. Rauff, who later in life became a very successful actor in the United States, used the stage name David Manners during his career in theatre and in Hollywood films. ^[3] Acklom died on 26 October 1959 and was buried in Oak Park Cemetery in Claremont, a city located on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, California.

Selected bibliography

• Margaret: an idyll. Portland, Maine: Smith & Sale, 1898. ^{[14] [15]}
• "In Memoriam", a sonnet published in Century of Canadian Sonnets. Toronto: Musson Book Company Limited, 1910. ^{[16] [17]}
• Jekyl Island Club, Brunswick, Georgia 1916. New York, N.Y.: Photogravure & Color Company, 1919. ^[18]
• Introduction to Cosmic Consciousness: a study in the evolution of the human mind by Canadian psychiatrist Richard Maurice Bucke. New York, N.Y.: E.P. Dutton, 1923. ^{[9] [19]}
• Translator of The Red Gods by French novelist Jean d'Esme. New York, N.Y.: E.P. Dutton, 1924. ^{[13] [20]}
• Seventy-five years; or, The joys and sorrows of publishing and selling books at Duttons, from 1852 to 1927. New York, N.Y.: E.P. Hutton, 1927. ^[21]
• Winter Vigil. New York, N.Y.: Harold Vinal, 1928. ^[22]
• Editor of The New Champlin Cyclopedia For Young Folks. New York, N.Y.: H. Holt & Company, 1933. ^[23]
• Hamlet and the Demon. Hastings-on-Hudson, New York: Privately published, 1937. ^[24]

References