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.