Chambers, Robert (1802-1871), was a Scottish writer and publisher. In 1832, he and his older brother William cofounded the publishing company W. & R. Chambers Ltd., which became famous for high-quality encyclopedias and dictionaries. Robert Chambers helped to supervise the first edition of Chambers’s Encyclopaedia between 1859 and 1868, and he produced a number of respected reference books.
Chambers had an expert knowledge of English and Scottish literature. When his brother William started publishing Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal in 1832, Robert coedited it and contributed a series of literary essays. The brothers’ critical understanding of the topics was a major element in the journal’s success. Chambers also edited Cyclopaedia of English Literature (1844).
Chambers was the author of a work initially published anonymously in 1844 entitled Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation. This work presented some of the revolutionary ideas later proposed by the British naturalist Charles Darwin. It described, for example, how fossils show a progression from simpler to more advanced forms. Vestiges attracted much attention and was fiercely attacked for its untraditional views. Reference books written by Chambers include Traditions of Edinburgh (1823), a work much admired by Sir Walter Scott; A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen (1832-1835); Domestic Annals of Scotland (1858-1861); and an almanac called The Book of Days (1862-1864). He also wrote The Life and Works of Robert Burns (1851) and Songs of Scotland Prior to Burns (1862).
Chambers was born on July 10, 1802, in Peebles, in southeastern Scotland. Before becoming a writer and publisher, he worked as a bookseller. He died in St. Andrews, Scotland, on March 17, 1871.
