158:. 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.
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176:, 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.
220:, 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. The encyclopaedia was regarded as such a scholarly achievement that Law received the
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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
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Carreyrou, John; Frank, Robert (23 October 2002). "Vivendi
Universal Reaches Pact To Sell Part of Publishing Unit --- France's Lagardere Is Set To Buy Non-U.S. Portion; Criticism of Deal Is Likely".
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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
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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
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197:(no longer published), in 520 weekly parts at three-halfpence each. The first edition was based on a translation into English of the 10th edition of the
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At the end of 2009, the parent company shut the
Edinburgh premises of Chambers Harrap Publishers. The Chambers imprint was managed from London by
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in around 1819. This was the nearest thing to a guaranteed best-seller in 19th-century
Edinburgh, and brought further profits and some fame.
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which took six years to prepare, cost ÂŁ500,000 and included the work of over 2,300 authors. The work was lauded by the then
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At the end of 2007 Chambers Harrap
Publishers acquired the rights to publish the renowned British slang lexicographer
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The distribution sub-subsidiary of Allied
Chambers is given as Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
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Lagardère SCA owns these brands in the United
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Between 1859 and 1868 they published their most important work to date, the renowned
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Steam-Powered
Knowledge: William Chambers and the Business of Publishing, 1820-1860
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Democratising Knowledge: An Online Resource from National Museums Scotland
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in 1992. Harrap mainly publishes bilingual dictionaries, for instance
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in Scotland in 1800 and 1802 respectively, during the time of the
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Chambers Harrap Publishers is best known for its flagship title,
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Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
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563:. New York, N.Y., United States, New York, N.Y. pp. –4.
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591:"Chambers Harrap Edinburgh base to close | The Bookseller"
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in 1998. Vivendi sold its European book publishing to
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Just A Phrase I'm Going Through: My Life in Language
150:. They were born into a rich, mill-owning family in
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Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y
168:In 1824, Robert wrote, and the brothers published,
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353:. This new edition was published in October 2008.
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231:In 1989, Chambers was acquired by
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330:Adult Learners' Range
202:Konversations-Lexikon
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987:Philip Allan Updates
937:Hachette Children's
289:Current publications
174:The Chambers Journal
142:by the two brothers
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