Vestiges of the natural history of creation / by Robert Chambers, with an introduction relating to the authorship of the work by Alexander Ireland.

  • Chambers, Robert, 1802-1871.
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Vestiges of the natural history of creation / by Robert Chambers, with an introduction relating to the authorship of the work by Alexander Ireland. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    15/546
    IX passed away, and I am left the last authentic holder of the secret, I am unwilling that it should die with me, and that thus another should be added to the list of undis- closed authorships, to be fought over perhaps by future disputants, as the authorship of the “Letters of Junius” has been fought over in the past. Moreover, as will be found from what follows, Robert Chambers did not prohibit me from disclosing his connection with the work, should I survive him. Although the chief motive with me is to do justice to the memory of the author, I also consider it desirable to put an end to the numerous conjectures regarding others to whom the authorship has been attributed. There will also be a gain in saving the time of curious and diligent inquirers who might fruitlessly investigate the matter in future times. I am assured that there is in existence an elaborate MS. Essay, demonstrating that Robert Chambers could not have been the author, a production which must have cost the ingenious writer much valuable time and labour. Not long before Robert Chambers’s death I was on a short visit to him at St. Andrews. On that occasion he was sufficiently well to preside at dinner, and to enjoy the society of a few friends during the evening. On the morning on which I left he was unable to make his appearance at breakfast, having passed a bad night; and