The history of the Vandermonde notation is described, in the context of the Vandermonde determinant, in A case of mathematical eponymy: the Vandermonde determinant, section 2.1. It seems Lebesgue didn't like it because it could have induced a mix-up between indices and exponents, and that may be a reason it did not survive. Leibniz used a similar notation.
http://ilorentz.org/beenakker/MO/Vandermonde.png
Carlo Beenakker
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