[Robert Chambers]
London: John Churchill, 1846-1860.

Vestiges, published anonymously, had an enormous influence on Charles Darwin, first published in 1844 and here greatly enlarged. This edition (the second to be illustrated) was published just following the publication of Darwin’s Origin and is Chambers; final revision of the text. A twelfth edition, published in 1884 following Chambers’ death, reprints this text and acknowledges his authorship. // Chambers had planned to respond to criticisms of his work by publishing a series of letters to the ‘Times’ followed by a pamphlet of a hundred or so pages, however Churchill convinced the anonymous author (through his friend Alexander Ireland) that it should be issued in book form, printed and bound similarly to the original. Explanations was duly issued in 1845, and was followed by this slightly altered version in 1846. By then the fifth edition of ‘Vestiges’ was ready and the two works were often reviewed together, the publisher going so far as to suggest a combined volume, however his anonymous author pointed out that the arguments were already incorporated in the new edition.