that Prince Albert might have secretly written it. Adam Sedgwick, as well as others, initially thought that the work was likely written by a woman, either Harriet Martineau or the Countess Ada Lovelace. A feminine authorship was thought to explain all of the book's scientific failings. Robert Chambers became a prominent suspect as early as the spring of 1845. In 1854, following the publication of the 10th edition of Vestiges along with its anonymous biographical sketch, a former assistant named David Page accused Chambers directly. The accusation was printed in the Athenaeum, but because Page was an embittered former employee of the Chambers's firm, his testimony was not taken very seriously. Vyvyan finally denied that he was the author outright and the British Museum listed the book under George Combe's name as late as 1877. After Robert's death in 1871 his brother, William, penned a biography for Robert but refused to reveal the secret. He only mentioned the Vestiges to note that Robert's suspected authorship was used as a means to discredit him when he ran for the office of Lord Provost of Edinburgh in 1848. The secret was finally revealed in 1884, when Alexander Ireland issued a new 12th edition with Robert's name and an introduction explaining the circumstances behind its publication. Editions of Vestiges and Explanations Vestiges Chambers made important revisions to the book, refining his arguments, addressing the many criticisms and reacting to new scientific publications. He added and deleted whole sections so that the content of the last edition differs substantially from that of the first. Many of the editions were reprinted in the United States. At least 14 versions are known; published by Wiley and Putnam, New York (two in 1845, 1846), Colyer, New York (1846), Harper, New York (1847, 1854, 1856, 1858, 1859, 1860, 1862, 1868) and James, Cincinnati (1852, 1858). After 1846, the American editions usually included Explanations. Explanations Translations of Vestiges The book was translated to five languages. The first translation, into German, was by A. F. Seubert (Becher, Stuttgart, 1846) followed by the Dutch version prepared by J.H. van den Broek (Broese, Utrecht, 1849 and 1850). A second German translation was completed by Carl Vogt (F. Vieweg, Brauchweig, 1851 and 1858). J. Somody's translation into Hungarian was based on the tenth London edition (and was published by the Calvinist High School, Pápa, 1858, reprinted in Pest, 1861). F. Majocchi translated the