Ephraim Chambers | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1680 Kendal, Westmorland, England |
| Died | 15 May 1740 (aged 59–60) Islington, England |
| Occupation | Encyclopaedist, publisher |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
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 . [1] Chambers' Cyclopædia is known as the original source material for the French Encyclopédie that started off as a translation of Cyclopædia. [2]
Chambers was born in Milton near Kendal, Westmorland, England. Little is known of his early life but he attended Heversham Grammar School, [3] 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. [4] He also took lodging in Gray's Inn, where he remained for the rest of his life. [5] Chambers died in Canonbury House in Islington and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey. [5] [6]
The first edition of the Cyclopaedia appeared by subscription in 1728 and was dedicated to George II, King of Great Britain. [4] When he died in 1740, he left materials for a Supplement; edited by George Lewis Scott, this was published in 1753. [7]
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). [5] [8]
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):
Multis pervulgatus
paucis notus
Qui vitam inter lucem et umbram
Nec eruditus nec idiota
Literis deditus transegit, sed ut homo
Qui humani nihil a se alienum putat
Vita simul et laboribus functus
Hic requiescere voluit
EPHRAIM CHAMBERS.
In English thus:
Heard of by many,
Known to few,
Who led a Life between Fame and Obscurity
Neither abounding nor deficient in Learning
Devoted to Study, but as a Man
Who thinks himself bound to all Offices of Humanity,
Having finished his Life and Labours together,
Here desires to rest
EPHRAIM CHAMBERS.
The Encyclopédie of Diderot and d'Alembert owed its inception to a French translation of Chambers's work.
Antistrophe is the portion of an ode sung by the chorus in its returning movement from west to east in response to the strophe, which was sung from east to west.
Henry Baker was a British naturalist.
Ambarvalia was a Roman agricultural fertility rite held on 29 May in honor of Ceres and Dea Dia.
John Martyn or Joannes Martyn was an English botanist.
An anodyne is a drug used to lessen pain through reducing the sensitivity of the brain or nervous system. The term was common in medicine before the 20th century, but such drugs are now more often known as analgesics or painkillers.
Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery KT PC FRS was an English nobleman, statesman and patron of the sciences.
Cyclopædia: or, An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences is an encyclopedia prepared by Ephraim Chambers and first published in 1728; six more editions appeared between 1728 and 1751 with a Supplement in 1753. The Cyclopædia was one of the first general encyclopedias to be produced in English.
John Mills was an English writer on agriculture, translator and editor. Mills and Gottfried Sellius are known for being the first to prepare a French edition of Ephraim Chambers's Cyclopaedia for publication in 1745, which eventually resulted in the Encyclopédie published in France between 1751 and 1772.
The hypotrachelium is the upper part or groove in the shaft of a Doric column, beneath the trachelium. The Greek form is hypotrakhelion.
In Attic drama, the coryphaeus, corypheus, or koryphaios was the leader of the chorus. Hence the term is used for the chief or leader of any company or movement. The coryphaeus spoke for all the rest, whenever the chorus took part in the action, in quality of a person of the drama, during the course of the acts.
The Divalia was a Roman festival held on December 21, in honour of the goddess Angerona, whence it is also called Angeronalia. On the day of this festival the pontifices performed sacrifices in the temple of Voluptia, or the goddess of joy and pleasure, who, some say, was the same with Angerona, and supposed to drive away all the sorrow and chagrin of life.
A bottomry, or bottomage, is an arrangement in which the master of a ship borrows money upon the bottom or keel of it, so as to forfeit the ship itself to the creditor, if the money with interest is not paid at the time appointed at the ship's safe return.
Jean Le Clerc, also Johannes Clericus, was a Genevan theologian and biblical scholar. He was famous for promoting exegesis, or critical interpretation of the Bible, and was a radical of his age. He parted with Calvinism over his interpretations and left Geneva for that reason.
The Ascitans were a peculiar Montanist sect of 2nd century Christians, who produced the practice of dancing around burst wine-skins at their assemblies, saying that they were those new bottles filled with new wine, whereof Jesus makes mention, according to the New American Standard Bible translation, Matthew 9:17:
Azone is a term in mythology anciently applied to gods and goddesses that were not the private divinities of any particular country or people. Azones were acknowledged as deities in every country, and worshipped in every nation. The word is etymologically derived from Greek for "without" and "country". The azones were to a degree above the visible and sensible deities, which were called zonei, who inhabited some particular part of the world, and never stirred out of the district or zone that was assigned them.
In heraldry, cabossed, or caboched, is a term used where the head of a beast is cut off behind the ears, by a section parallel to the face; or by a perpendicular section: in contrast to couping, which is done by a horizontal line, and farther from the ears than cabossing.
George Lewis Scott (1708–1780) was a mathematician and literary figure who was tutor to the future George III from 1751 to 1755. A friend of the historian Edward Gibbon, the poet James Thomson and other members of the Georgian era literary world, he was described as 'perhaps the most accomplished of all amateur mathematicians who never gave their works to the world'.
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