- Source: Ephraim Chambers
Ephraim Chambers (c. 1680 – 15 May 1740) was an English writer and encyclopaedist, who is primarily known for producing the Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. Chambers' Cyclopædia is known as the original source material for the French Encyclopédie that started off as a translation of Cyclopædia.
Biography
Chambers was born in Milton near Kendal, Westmorland, England. Little is known of his early life but he attended Heversham Grammar School,
then was apprenticed to a globe maker, John Senex, in London from 1714 to 1721. It was here that he developed the plan of the Cyclopaedia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. After beginning the Cyclopaedia, he left Senex's service and devoted himself entirely to the encyclopedia project. He also took lodging in Gray's Inn, where he remained for the rest of his life. Chambers died in Canonbury House in Islington and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey.
Writing
The first edition of the Cyclopaedia appeared by subscription in 1728 and was dedicated to George II, King of Great Britain. When he died in 1740, he left materials for a Supplement; edited by George Lewis Scott, this was published in 1753.
He also wrote for, and possibly edited, the Literary Magazine (1735–1736), which mainly published book reviews. Chambers worked on translating other works in French on perspective and chemistry from 1726 to 1727, including the Practice of Perspective from the French of Jean Dubreuil. He also worked with John Martyn to translate the History and Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris (1742).
Legacy
Chambers' epitaph, written by himself, was published in both the original Latin and in English in the Gentleman's Magazine, volume 10, as follows (translation is the original):
In English thus:
The Encyclopédie of Diderot and d'Alembert owed its inception to a French translation of Chambers's work.
See also
Chambers's Encyclopaedia – a work by different authors
Notes
References
Bradshaw, Lael Ely. "Ephraim Chambers' Cyclopaedia." In: Notable Encyclopedias of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries: Nine Predecessors of the Encyclopédie. Ed. Frank Kafker. Oxford: The Voltaire Foundation, 1981. 123–137.
"Mr. Ephraim Chambers." The Gentleman's Magazine v. 10 (May 1740): p. 262.
Harris, Michael. "Chambers, Ephraim (1680?–1740)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5070. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Chambers, Ephraim". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 820.
External links
Chambers' Cyclopaedia, digitized and placed online by the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center
cyclopaedia.org
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- Cyclopædia, atau an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences
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- Ephraim Chambers
- Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences
- Writ
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