Chambers, Robert and William

Chambers, Robert and William

(born July 10, 1802, Peebles, Tweeddale, Scot.—died March 17, 1871, St. Andrews, Fifeshire) (born 1800, Peebles—died 1883) Scottish publishers. Robert, who began business as a bookstall keeper in Edinburgh, wrote historical, literary, and geological works. In 1832 the brothers started Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, which led to the establishment of the publishing firm W. & R. Chambers, Ltd. Their Chambers's Encyclopaedia (1859–68) was based on a translation of the German Konversations-Lexikon. Considered scholarly and reliable on historical subjects, the encyclopaedia has gone through several editions, but the lack of a continuous revision system has led to the dating of much of its material.