| Authorised form of name | Chambers; Ephraim (c 1680 - 1740) |
| Surname | Chambers |
| Forenames | Ephraim |
| Dates | c 1680 - 1740 |
| Nationality | British |
| Dates and places | Birth:
Kendal, England (c 1680)
Death:
15 May 1740
Burial:
The cloisters of Westminster Abbey |
| Activity | Author, publisher, editor, translator
Education:
Kendal grammar school; apprenticed to John Senex (FRS 1728), the map and globe maker
Career:
Compiled a 'Cyclopaedia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences' which impressed Henry Beighton (FRS 1720), went into five editions and inspired the work of Diderot and D'Alembert; travelled to France.
Freemason, passible (as E. Chambers) WM, 1730, Lodge No 55, at Red Lion, Red Lion Street, richmond, London |
| Royal Society activity | Membership:
Fellow
Election Date:
6/11/1729 |
| Relationships | Son of a farmer at Kendal; married |
| Published works | 'Cyclopaedia or Universal Dictionary of the Arts qnd sciences' 1728, two volumes [Chamber's Twentieth Century Dictionary is its lineal descendant] |
| Sources | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; Taylor Hanoverian
References:
Obituary, Gentleman's Magazine (1740), p.262.
J L Heilbron, 'Information technology. Encyclopaedic visions. Scientific dictionaries and the Enlightenment culture by R Yeo' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 111-112
The Library and Museum of Freemasonry, ;Freemasons and the Royal Society; Alphabetical List of Fellows of the Royal Society who were Freemasons' (2010), page 19
Notes:
Proposed by William Jones; Sir Hans Sloane; a Secretary |
| Royal Society code | NA7388 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| Reference number | Title | Date |
| NLB/39/341 | Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to S A Moor | 6 January 1909 |