Robert Chambers (publisher born 1802)

Robert Chambers ( * July 10, 1802 in Peebles, † March 17 1871 in St Andrews ) was a Scottish author, geologist, and writer in his time one of the most successful publisher in Britain.

Life

Robert and his older brother William Chambers (1800-1883) was born in the Scottish town of Peebles on the river Tweed. Her father James Chambers, a cotton manufacturer, bought occasionally books for his private library. One day the young Robert discovered at home the Encyclopædia Britannica and read for years with great curiosity in it. More books from the local public library encouraged his interest in literature. At school he learned, among other Latin and Greek.

Robert and William both suffered from polydactyly. From birth, they had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. Her parents tried to make correct the deformity through operations. While these complications went with William, were found in Robert permanent paralysis. Therefore, he retired as a child often back with his books.

The development of the power loom threatened his father's business, forcing him to become a draper. When he went bankrupt and thus, the family moved in 1813 to Edinburgh to. Robert continued his education at the local college, while William began as a bookseller. 1818 Robert sold the books of his father as a street vendor and opened a modest business as a bookseller. William, in turn, bought a simple printing press and founded a publishing house. Finally, the brothers got together: Robert tried his hand as a writer, William printed his works. Until 1832 the two have a well-functioning printing and publishing house had created, which produced, among other things, the weekly newspaper Chambers 's Edinburgh Journal.

1829 married Robert Chambers Anne Kirkwood, who grew up as an only child. They had 14 children. Three died in infancy, three sons and eight girls survived.

In the 1830s, Chambers began particularly interested in geology, then experienced a huge boom. In 1840 he was inducted into the Royal Society of Edinburgh, in 1844 the Geological Society of London.

Was published anonymously in 1844 his most important work: Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation. In the work of popular science formulated, he represented - 15 years before Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species - the idea of ​​a comprehensive natural evolution and drew the bow from astronomy about the geology to biology. His authorship was announced only 13 years after his death in the 12th edition.

Writings

  • Illustrations of the Author of Waverley. 1822.
  • Traditions of Edinburgh. In 1824.
  • Notices of the Most Remarkable with Fires have Occurred in Edinburgh. In 1825.
  • Walks in Edinburgh. In 1825.
  • Picture of Scotland. In 1827.
  • History of the Rebellion of 1745. 1828th
  • Scottish Ballads. , 1829.
  • Scottish songs., 1829.
  • The Picture of Stirling., 1830.
  • Life of King James I. 1830.
  • Gazetteer of Scotland (with William Chambers ). In 1832.
  • Scottish jests and Anecdotes. In 1832.
  • Life of Sir Walter Scott. In 1832.
  • History of Scotland. In 1832.
  • Reekiana, or Minor Antiquities of Edinburgh. In 1833.
  • Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. From 1833 to 1835.
  • Life and Works of Burns. In 1834.
  • Jacobite Memoirs of the Rebellion. In 1834.
  • History of the English Language and Literature. In 1835.
  • Poems. In 1835.
  • The Land of Burns ( with John Wilson). In 1840.
  • Cyclopaedia of English Literature ( with Robert Carruthers ). In 1840.
  • History of the Rebellion of 1745. 1840.
  • (Published anonymously) Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation. 1844.
  • Twelve Romantic Scottish Ballads. 1844.
  • The Chambers Book of Days. , 1864. Historical, biographical and anecdotal texts in calendar schedule. Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1879. (Online)
  • The Chambers Dictionary. 9th edition. Chambers, 2003, ISBN 0-550-10013- X.
Robert G. Chambers Project Gutenberg Integrated Authority File
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