The sun., 1878-04-28
Old ALMfNICS.

have lately been collected both in French and
English magazines from this unprOmising ma
tcrial lfrrority of date is merit the history
of thrso humcly ANIMALS has even higher claims
tO notice than the history of newspapers, for
the almanac known rs " Poor tob,n's.' whose
publication ceas'd only year or two nEO. WIS
nearly u hundred years old when the first Eng
l.-h gazette appeared.
a writer in leisure HoO. has lighted on Il long
series Oi English alinanacs. some Of which date
bhc. to 1851 whru. as the cuts show. London
town was rapidly rising from the ashes u the
great fire. although new st. Paul's was still en-
conpGsscd by Il mass Of scafloldngs. Already
the prophetic iOnu which hud once mark ed these
publications was losing somewhat OF its assur-
Uncc probably because the astrolugcr. john
Gadbury, had been brought very nigh the
-alioWs hy his sinister predictions. 1t is worth
noting, however. that in this ycuf one of the al
nanac niakrr8 hud penetration enough to fore
see the success OF tho PrU.clp,d. iorhc announces
that " lsaac Newton, the liustrious mathcmdti-
cian. will presently publish u work destined to
leave far behind 1t everything which has ap-
pearod since Aristotle" But tho same editor
in his chronology places the building Of Solo
mons Temple in tho year 1892 after the croa-
ton Of tho world. while he refers the founda-
ton of London to date some eighty-nine years
'hil'is hN''ihiHE " Allhls tbb NHt OHlNtIHUb
of Cambridge was established about forty ycurs
before the first funic war On the other hand.
the almanac makers had already learned to
practise circumspection ia their meteorological
proguOstios. One of them. for instance pre-
dicis for the period between the 18th and 2lst of
January certain amount Of frost and dry
weather. whilc another with equal caution
writes scusunabic weather" opposite the
month of July. Guided by an obscure intuition.
Poor Robin forctells couple ~ oclipscs for
the same year..but as To their effects he avows
humbly that he " knows as much as the Lord
Mayors horse Passing from astronomy t.
philosophical reflections. he is more pcremp-
tory and cdiiying. 10 the month OK April be-
hscribes an extraordinary influence upon love
affairs Behold" he writes tho month os
waywardnoss and Inconsistency Woe TO him.
lac continues. who marr!cs wife in Aprii for
lie shall hc ~ sorcly put 10 ii to deal with her as
Il tailor To shoe Il horse"
Gu; Of thirteen almanacs published in 1909
five had reached their twcnty-scrund wear and
one of these entitled The Ladies' journal.
offered 10y way of premium to its feminine sub
srribors some kuo,y problems in arithmetic.
which the young graduates of our Normal
hoJ.s would ilnd dilirulty in solving But
the most famous almanac II Qdccn Amos day
was that edited by the Whis politician. John
Partridge. who in the number for this particu-
lar year lIc9. "Xplodes with Indignation
over SwiN's circumstantial account o.
his death and burial. The most formil-
able rival Of parirdgcs work was Moores
Almanac. which. bcsid,s prophecies. strongly
tnctured with Whig politics. printed some
medical advertisements. thus beginning prac-
tice since carried To- gioat lengths. II We may
believe Francis Moore. liccntiaie in medicine
aud student IN asirology. at the sign Of the OH
LILY. Christ Church parish. London" hG pos
sessrd. like our yrnders Of patent medicines.
iniallihle specifies FOR fur,itying the weak. cut.
ting ievcrs, AMI quieiing COLES but he had NO
notion Of enrich.ng his almanac with his
recps shrcwdly inviting his readers 10 pri-
vatc consultations al his house
AT the datc named and indeed throughout
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
stamp tax Of fifteen pence levied on each copy
made 81 the almanac an object Of luxury. The
corporation Of papermakcrs. which possessed
substantial monopoly OF their issue. made no
effort to improve the character OF these little
works. which. up to Il late date rcmaincd con-
summate types Of ignorant superstition and
vu.gaT'ty. II WAS hot until Lord Brouehams
time. upon the foundation ~ the Society
for the Diffusion Of Useful knowledge that
English almanae- appeared in all respects an
IL
i would be scarcely possible to onumeraie the
carefully edited ANIMALS published in 1877.
more or less closely modelled on the English
almanac of Charles Knight. and rcpleie with
valuable Information. At the same time, il IL
stated in Leisure HoiO' that the sale Of tho
olI-iashonci prophetic almanac has never
reached 81 high i-ure rs ip our own day. al
though crcdullty has lost the excuse Of isuo-
runer and superstition.
LIZ us glance now at some old French al
manacs. great runIbcrof which are described
IN detail ina recent number oithe H,ri,e Btt0u-
Wque. Tie use of ihose aunuas seems 10 have
been common in France rs early ~ 1913. Lu,
II H. FAR ir'm c..sy 10 inl any copies of a ,iAte
prior t. 1860. ~ there seems t. have been "A
riiiculous mania furd.stroying old almanac in
the reign of Louis XIV 1t is said that the oldest
work of the KIND ia the National Library is the
1imdnact Hoydi Of lGg9-;he book which Foni,-
hrilr declared contained more truths tlau any
other 1t =. IN fact. u sort OF official directory
and local gailr book. and some Of the data iu-
serted for tie Information Of travellers are Gu
rouS enough. For instance. under the head IF
TIA" rostal department We learn that six boxes"
had recently been opened flr the convenience
oi the public. How defective were the means Of
communication may be- Inferred from the inrt
that u coa'h ran To Fontainblrau only Onre Il
werk. aud TO SEDAN and Intermediates station.
but tLrir" month. This lull!cation
continued 10 appear under the same tile until
1893. when il became the AmnGnao NdtuoL
and Ulsttuted The list Of Deputies to the Con
v'nt.on tor that of the Kings and Princes of
Europe. Under the head Of the muni,ltnl
armed force, the "Cita.n Suntorrc" G.ares
~ Chi"f of the General Staff There ls
mrlH OF dHg'"ce routes and prices