Chambers Book of Days

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The Chambers Book of Days^[1] was written by the Scottish author Robert Chambers and published in 1864. A new version was published by Chambers Harrap known as the Chambers Book of Days (2004)^[2]

[edit] Chambers Book of Days (1864)

The Book of Days was Robert Chambers' last publication, and perhaps his most elaborate. It was a miscellany of popular antiquities in connection with the calendar, and it is supposed that his excessive labour in connexion with this book hastened his death. Two years before, the university of St Andrews had conferred upon him the degree of doctor of laws, and he was elected a member of the Athenaeum club in London. It is his highest claim to distinction that he did so much to give a healthy tone to the cheap popular literature which has become so important a factor in modern civilization.

There are various online versions of the Chambers Book of Days including:

• The University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries present: CHAMBERS'S BOOK of DAYS an electronic reprint of the original: Chambers's Book of Days. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1879.
• The Hyperlinked & Searchable Chambers' 1869 'The Book of Days' (calendar page) by members of Emmitsburg.net, a Non-profit Community Web Site for Emmitsburg, Maryland

[edit] Chambers Book of Days (2004)

Chambers Harrap published a new Book of Days in 2004, Rosalind Fergusson wrote for the Chambers Harrap website that:

Like its illustrious predecessor, Chambers Book of Days (2004) is a compendium of information relating to the days, months, and seasons of the year, selected and presented with the personal touch of the author. ... At the same time, the style of Chambers Book of Days (1864) has been preserved by the inclusion of numerous passage from the original volumes, and the selection of these was one of the current author’s more pleasurable tasks. It is hard to surpass Robert Chambers’ lyrical descriptions of the characteristics of the changing seasons, for example, extracts of which are included at the beginning of each month. ^[3]

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ The reference is called Chambers Book of Days (1864) on the Chambers Harrap web site; however other common variations are Chambers' Book of Days and Chambers's Book of Days
2. ^ Ian Sansom Crunchy, but not the original in The Guardian December 4, 2004
3. ^ Rosalind Fergusson Chambers Harrap Publishers: Chambers Book of Days (2004) September 2004