industry publishing genre reference predecessor w.r.chambers publishers and george g. harrap and company ltd founded first publication in 1819 headquarters london uk parent hachette website www.chambersharrap.co.uk chambers harrap publishers chambers harrap publishers ltd is a reference publisher formerly based in edinburgh scotland which held the property rights of the venerable w.r. chambers publishers and its competitor george g. harrap and company founded 1901 . contents 1 history of chambers 2 current publications 3 harrap 4 slang 5 brewer s 6 see also 7 references 8 further reading 9 external links history of chambers edit chambers was founded as w. & r. chambers publishers by the two brothers william chambers of glenormiston and robert chambers . they were born into a rich mill owning family in peebles in scotland in 1800 and 1802 respectively during the time of the war with france . the war impoverished the family and in 1813 the family left peebles for edinburgh . robert remained at home to finish his education but william was forced to find work to support his parents . he was a keen reader and would get up early in the morning to read by the dawn light because he was too poor to buy candles . he was apprenticed to a bookseller at the sum of 4 shillings a week . robert also an avid reader could not go to university when he finished school because his parents could not afford to pay . he too moved to edinburgh rented a one roomed shop in leith walk and set himself up as a bookseller when he was just 16 years old . william s apprenticeship came to an end when he turned 18 and he joined robert working in the shop . although they had had a modest beginning the brothers began to do well . they had no training in printing and binding but together they printed bound and published 750 copies of the songs of robert burns in around 1819 . this was the nearest thing to a guaranteed best seller in 19th century edinburgh and brought further profits and some fame . in 1824 robert wrote and the brothers published traditions of edinburgh . education was always the main priority for william and robert . in 1832 they published the chambers journal a weekly newspaper containing articles on subjects such as history religion language and science many of which were written by robert himself . it was an immediate success and within a few years the weekly circulation had risen to 84 000 copies . this put an end to their struggle to survive although they still had to work hard . the design and wording that appeared at the start of each volume of the chambers s encyclopaedia . between 1859 and 1868 they published their most important work to date the renowned chambers s encyclopaedia no longer published in 520 weekly parts at three halfpence each . 1 the first edition was based on a translation into english of the 10th edition of the german language konversations lexikon which became the brockhaus enzyklop die . 2 this went through several further editions reaching a high point of quality with the 1950 edition published in 15 volumes by george newnes which took six years to prepare cost 500 000 and included the work of over 2 300 authors . the work was lauded by the then lord chancellor lord jowitt as outstanding proof of british scholarship while the managing editor m. d. law commented that she believed the work to be the first major encyclopaedia to be published in britain since before the first world war . 3 the encyclopaedia was regarded as such a scholarly achievement that law received the o.b.e. for her efforts . 4 full citation needed chambers also published an extensive list of innovative and ultra reliable language and reference titles covering english language dictionaries thesauruses bilingual dictionaries and specialist titles on subjects such as biography quotations literary characters science and technology and world history . at the end of 2009 the parent company shut the edinburgh premises of chambers harrap publishers . the chambers imprint is now managed from london by hodder education while harrap titles are edited in paris . a subsidiary allied chambers publishes the titles for the market in and around india . 5 current publications edit chambers harrap publishers is best known for its flagship title the chambers dictionary which contains more words and definitions than any other single volume dictionary and is known for its occasionally humorous definitions . the chambers list is currently split into the following areas dictionaries thesauruses language reference subject reference school range crosswords puzzles games phrasebooks adult learners range harrap edit chambers purchased the formerly independent harrap s in the early 1990s . harrap mainly publishes bilingual dictionaries for instance harrap s shorter french dictionary . the harrap list also includes study aids slang dictionaries phrasebooks and business dictionaries . in the uk harrap publishes bilingual titles in french spanish portuguese italian german and polish . recently chambers has started selling harrap publications under the chambers imprint . it is not known whether the name harrap s will continue in use . slang edit at the end of 2007 chambers harrap publishers acquired the rights to publish the renowned british slang lexicographer jonathon green s slang dictionary as chambers slang dictionary originally published by cassell of the orion publishing group . this new edition was published in october 2008 . brewer s edit on 1 january 2008 chambers harrap publishers acquired the brewer s list from orion publishing group including the famous brewer s dictionary of phrase and fable . see also edit for other history and founders william chambers and robert chambers . george g. harrap and co. chambers s encyclopaedia the chambers dictionary harrap s shorter french dictionary william chambers of glenormiston ebenezer cobham brewer references edit law m. d. preface in chambers s encyclop dia . london george newnes 1961 vol . 1 pp . vii x. chambers s encyclopaedia encyclop dia britannica online 2013 . retrieved 30 august 2013 . six years work on encyclopaedia in the times 25 april 1950 p. 8 . the times digital archive . retrieved 29 august 2013 . encyclopaedia editor retires in the times 29 august 1963 p. 10 . the times digital archive . retrieved 29 august 2013 . see e.g. walker peter m. b. 2001 1999 . chambers dictionary of science and technology . new delhi allied chambers . indicia . isbn 81 86062 32 7 . this edition ... is published by allied chambers india ltd. 2001 by arrangement with chambers harrap publishers ltd. ... for sale in india and specified territories only the distribution sub subsidiary of allied chambers is given as allied publishers pvt. ltd. further reading edit fyfe aileen 2012 . steam powered knowledge william chambers and the business of publishing 1820 1860 . chicago london university of chicago press . isbn 978 0 226 27651 9 . external links edit chambers harrap publishers chambers reference online chambers catalogue harrap harrap catalogue harrap france a history of chambers harrap v t e lagard re sca lagard re publishing hachette livre armand colin calmann l vy dalloz fayard gautier languereau grasset hachette hatier larousse librairie g n rale fran aise 80 % jc latt s pika stock hatier edelsa hachette usa black dog & leventhal center street faithwords grand central hyperion little brown mulholland books orbit yen 49 % hachette uk hachette children s orchard books1 franklin watts1 wayland headline hodder & stoughton coronet hodder faith mulholland quercus sceptre two roads yellow kite hodder education chambers galore park gibson philip allan updates teach yourself john murray little brown constable & robinson orbit virago sphere octopus cassell illustrated conran octopus gaia godsfield hamlyn mitchell beazley philip s spruce orion books weidenfeld & nicolson gollancz lagard re active hachette filipacchi elle france dimanche ici paris le journal du dimanche le journal de mickey 50 % paris match pariscope photo picsou premi re psychologies t l 7 jours groupe marie claire 42 % ditions philippe amaury 25 % tv & radio delta radio canal j europe 1 evropa 2 gulli 66 % jacaranda 94.2 20 % mcm mcm group mezzo 60 % radio zet part owner tiji vibe fm virgin radio france virgin 17 lagard re services curtis circulation hds retail ls travel retail asia pacific virgin megastores france virgin books and music lagard re unlimited agencies sportfive world sport group 70 % events bnp paribas showdown citi open copa del sol hero indian open nordea masters ice wars singapore open superstars swedish open venues commerzbank arena groupama arena volksparkstadion 1 lagard re sca owns these brands in the united kingdom only . these brands are owned by scholastic corporation in the united states . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title chambers harrap & oldid 743906387 categories history of edinburgh1819 establishments in scotlandpublishing companies established in 1819defunct organisations of scotlandhidden categories articles needing more detailed references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages edit links this page was last modified on 11 october 2016 at 23 41 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit 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