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treatises on ecclesiastical computation on which the calendars are based. The earliest English calendar in the British Museum is one for the year 1431. The first printed almanac known was compiled by Pi.irbach, and appeared between the years 1450 and 1461; the first of importance is that of See also:

REGIOMONTANUS (1436-1476)

Regiomontanus, which appears to have been printed at See also:

NUREMBERG (Ger. Nurnberg)

Nuremberg in 1472. In this See also:

WORK

work the almanacs for the different months embrace three Metonic cycles, or the 57 years from 1475 to 1531 inclusive. The earliest almanac printed in England was The Kalendar of Shepardes, a See also:

TRANSLATION

translation from the French, printed by See also:

Richard Pynson about 1497. Early almanacs had commonly the name of " prognostications " in addition, and what they professed to show may be gathered from titles like the following, which is quoted by J. O. Halliwell: " Pronostycacyon of Mayster John Thybault, medycyner and astronomer of the Emperyall Majestie, of the year of our Lorde See also:

God MCCCCCXXXIJ., comprehending the iiij. partes of this yere, and of the See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of the mone, of peas and warre, and of the sykenesses of this yere, with the constellacions of them that be under the vij. planettes, and the revolutions of kynges and princes, and of the eclipses and comets." Among almanacs of this class published in England, and principally by the Stationers' See also:

COMPANY

Company, are Leonard See also:

DIGGES, WEST (172o-1786)

Digges's Prognostication See also:

EVERLASTING, or IMMORTELLE

Everlasting of Right See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

Good Effect, for 1553, 1555, &c.; See also:

William See also:

LILLY, WILLIAM (16oz-1681)

Lilly's Merlinus Anglicus Junior for 1644, &c., and other almanacs and " prognostications"; John Booker's Bloody Almanac and Bloody Irish Almanac for 1643, 1647, &c.—the last attributed erroneously to Richard See also:

Napier; John See also:

Partridge's Mercurius Coelestis for 1681, Merlinus Redivivus, &c. The name of Partridge has been immortalized in See also:

Pope's See also:

Rape of the See also:

Lock; and his almanacs were very cleverly burlesqued by See also:

Swift, who predicted Partridge's own See also:

DEATH

death, in genuine prognosticator's See also:

style.

The most famous of all the Stationers' Company's predicting almanacs was the Vox Stellarum of See also:

Francis See also:

Moore (1657-1715?), the first number of which was completed in See also:

JULY

July 1700, and contained predictions for 1701. Its publication has been continued under the See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of Old'Moore's Almanac. Of a different but not a better sort was Poor See also:

ROBIN

Robin, dating from 1663, and published by the company down to 1828, which abounded in coarse, sometimes extremely coarse, See also:

HUMOUR (Latin humor)

humour. The exclusive right to sell " almanacs and prognostications " in England, enjoyed in the See also:

time of See also:

Elizabeth by two members of the Company of Stationers, was extended by See also:

James I. to the two See also:

UNIVERSITIES

universities and the Stationers' Company jointly; but the universities commuted their See also:

PRIVILEGE

privilege for an See also:

ANNUITY (from Lat. annus, a year)

annuity from the company. This See also:

MONOPOLY (Gr. govomeXla or govoircaXwv, exclusive sale, from govds, alone, and irwXeiv, to sell)

monopoly was challenged by See also:

Thomas Carnan, a bookseller, who published an almanac for three successive years, after having been thrice imprisoned on that See also:

account by the company. The See also:

case came, in 1775, before the See also:

court of See also:

COMMON

common pleas, and was decided in Carnan's favour, the question argued being, " Whether almanacs were such public ordinances, such matters of See also:

state, as belonged t'o the See also:

king by his See also:

PREROGATIVE

prerogative, so as to enable him to communicate an exclusive right of See also:

PRINTING (from Lat. imprimere, O. Fr. empreindre)

printing them to a grantee of the See also:

CROWN

crown?" In 1779 See also:

Lord See also:

North attempted to See also:

REVERSE

reverse this decision by a See also:

PARLIAMENTARY

parliamentary enactment, but the See also:

BILL

bill was thrown out. In consequence of this the universities lost their title to their annuity, and in lieu of it they received a parliamentary See also:

grant. The company, however, virtually retained its monopoly for many years, by buying up as much as possible all the almanacs issued by other publishers, but in more See also:

RECENT

recent times this See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power has altogether ceased, although a considerable proportion of the almanacs published in England still issue from the See also:

hall of the Stationers' Company. A description of " Almanac See also:

Day " at Stationers' Hall will be found in See also:

Knight's Cyclopedia of See also:

LONDON

London (1851), p. 588. On the 1st of See also:

JANUARY

January 1828 the Society for the See also:

DIFFUSION (from the Lat. diffundere; dis-, asunder, and fundere, to pour out)

Diffusion of Useful Knowledge issued the British Almanac for that year—a publication greatly See also:

SUPERIOR

superior in every way to the almanacs of the time. The success of the British Almanac, with its valuable supplement, the See also:

COMPANION (through the O. Fr. compaignon or compagnon, from the Late Lat. companio,—cum, with, and panis, bread,—one who shares meals with another; the word has been wrongly derived from the Late Lat. compagnus, one of the same pages or district)

Companion to the Almanac, led to a See also:

GREAT

great improvement in this class of publications.

The Stationers' Company issued the Englishman's Almanac, a work of a similar kind. The entire See also:

REPEAL (O.F. rapel, modern rappel, from rapeler, rappeler, revoke, re and appeler, appeal)

repeal in 1834, by the 3rd and 4th Will.IV. c.57, of the heavy See also:

STAMP (from " to stamp," to strike or tread heavily, hence to impress, O. Eng. stempen, Du. stampen, Ger. stampfen, whence, O. Fr. estamper, mod. etamper)

stamp See also:

DUTY (from " due," that which is owing, O. Fr. deu, dil, past participle of devoir; Lat. debere, debitum; cf. " debt ")

duty, first imposed in 1710, on all almanacs of fifteenpence per copy, gave an additional stimulus to the publication of almanacs of a better class, and from that time the number has greatly increased. Since 187o, the British Almanac and Companion have been the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal almanacs published by the Stationers' Company. See also:

WHITAKER, JOSEPH (1820-1895)

Whitaker's Almanac, commenced in 1868 by See also:

Joseph Whitaker (182o-1895), is perhaps the best known of modern almanacs. In See also:

Scotland, almanacs containing much astrological See also:

MATTER

matter appeared to have been published at about the beginning of the 16th century; and about a century later those published at See also:

Aberdeen enjoyed considerable reputation. In 1683, the See also:

EDINBURGH

Edinburgh's True Almanack, or a New Prognostication, appeared; a publication which improved with years and was issued after 1837 as See also:

Oliver and See also:

Boyd's New Edinburgh Almanac, a See also:

standard book of reference for Scottish affairs. Thom's Irish Almanac (since 1843) deals mainly with See also:

Ireland. The earliest almanac published in the See also:

UNITED

United States is probably to be ascribed to See also:

Bradford's See also:

PRESS (through Fr. presse from Lat. pressare, frequentative of premere, to crush, squeeze, press)

press in See also:

PHILADELPHIA

Philadelphia, for the year 1687. Poor Richard's Almanac, commenced in 1732 by See also:

Benjamin See also:

Franklin under the See also:

PSEUDONYM (Gr. >l ev&,vuµos, having a false name, ¢Evirls, false and ovoµa, name)

pseudonym of " Richard Saunders," and continued by him for twenty-five years, gained a high reputation for its See also:

wise and witty sayings; it may have been suggested by a somewhat similar publication by Thomas, of See also:

DEDHAM

Dedham, See also:

MASSACHUSETTS (an Indian name, originally applied to a tribe of Indians)

Massachusetts. The See also:

AMERICAN

American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge was published at See also:

Boston from 1828 to 1861; a continuation, The See also:

NATIONAL

National Almanac, was published only twice, for 1863 and 1864. The Old See also:

FARMER, RICHARD (1735–1787)

Farmer's Almanac enjoys considerable popularity and has been published for many years. At the See also:

PRESENT

present time nearly every religious See also:

DENOMINATION (Lat. denominare, to give a specific name to)

denomination, See also:

trade and newspaper have almanacs or year-books.

In See also:

France prophetic almanacs circulated very freely among the poorer and rural classes, although an ordonnance of See also:

Charles IX. required the See also:

seal of a diocesan bishop on all almanacs. In 1579 See also:

Henry III. prohibited the publication of predictionsrelating to See also:

POLITICAL

political events, a See also:

PROHIBITION (Lat. prohibere, to prevent)

prohibition renewed by See also:

Louis XIII. Of such almanacs, the most famous was the Almanach Liegeois first published in 1625 at See also:

Liege by Matthieu Laensbergh, a See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person of very problematic existence. Publications of this class subsequently increased in number to such an extent that, in 1852, their circulation was forcibly checked by the See also:

government. The most important French almanac is the Almanach Royal, afterwards Imperial, and now National, first published in 1679. A number of publications, issued in See also:

Germany, from the See also:

MIDDLE

middle of the 18th to the middle of the 19th century, under such titles as Musenalmanach, modelled on the Almanach See also:

des See also:

MUSES, THE (Gr. Mo6o-at, the thinkers)

Muses, a contemporary almanac published at Paris, contain some of the best See also:

WORKS

works of some of the most celebrated See also:

German poets. The Almanach de See also:

GOTHA

Gotha, which has existed since 1763, published since 1871 both in French and German, gives a particular account of all the royal and princely families of See also:

EUROPE

Europe, and ample details concerning the See also:

ADMINISTRATION (Lat. administrare, to serve)

administration and the See also:

STATISTICS

statistics of the different states of the See also:

WORLD

world. For the Nautical Almanac and similar publications, see See also:

EPHEMERIS (Greek for a " diary ")

EPHEMERIS.

End of Article: ALMANAC

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