The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-01-07
ABOUT AlMANAsS.
a BRIEF HISTORY or THE OLDEST FORM OF
PERIODICAL NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
. THE PAST AND ALMANACs on THE PRES
ENTzTaEiR COMMITS, ETC.


the most constant. The herbal> OF queen
E,izabe,b's DAYS AID the snnuals OF Queen
V,c,oria's are alike obsolete; but we know
thai John Soncrs wrote calendar IN On
ford exactly 500 years ago. and that one Is
s,ilI existing in Lambeth Palace bearing the
venerable date OF AGO. SO much Tor toe
a.rIv centuries: while Us for the later
a Prime Minister not so very toog age
fonnd a text in favor OF imperialism
printed in the pages OF the Almanac
Tor 1877. Astronomy has indeed taken
the pace OF astI0iogv and science OF
0uackery: but ibc almanac remains pretty
much what II vas centuries ago-a treasury
of information, cheap book OF reference
n guide, an aid, an amusement. W beu
knowledge was rarPr people were more ahN'
ious about The fu;rre than about the past
and the almanac owed Us circulation 10 tht
fame Of its representations. Of course II
was d,ssgreeabe 10 eminent men, ana es'
mc,ajly TO kings, TO learn on the 1t OF Jan'
nary that their subjects might count on thcl'
demise some time aJoui tue MIDDLE OF July.
Thus Henry Ill, OF France. qui,e angry al
having 10 die so repeatedly IN his lietiine'
found il necessary 10 deal with the matter
and accordingly issued an edlet IN when nc
forbade all sucb pr0gnos'lcallons i0r me III
ture, and he was careful TO enforce 0Oedl-
ence by some very sharp punishment. Inc
importance OF the almanac seems also 10
have struck one OF our own kings AS de>i-
rable subject for legislation, bur JONES |.
took n commercial view of the subject. lie
did not care so much for The prophecies as
for the means of making money, and bt
granting monopoly Of these publications
at once raIsed their tone ana filled his
own excbequer. When the Company
of Stat,ouers and the Universities OF
Oxford and Cambridge shared the eX-
elusive right of publication something
better was to he eXpec'PQ. Inc
King proved as wise prophet a. any OF
the progposi icators, and though the unlyer-
stiles thought IL below their dignity 10 pub
lisb almanacs, they found the privilege 100
valuable TO be overlooked. They according
ly surrendered to The company their share
in the right, and took for the concession q
considerable annuity, which WAS annually
appljed for and annually paid. The publ
cations entered upon new phase OF eX-
istepce and became a little more accurate
and little less mysterious.
But before we reach that part OF its his
tory let us look for a moment at
THE OLD ALMANAC
as IL exlSteu III tUC cui' va. -
Oxford. as being the great seat OF learning,
was the great centre Of their manufacture :
and il Is curious 10 see how much surgery
and astronomy were mixed up with history
and religion. There were ESSAYS on blood
letting-in those DAYS "a cure for most dis
eases-sbort notes on medicine, and a
chronicle Of events from the birth of Cain,
and. added 10 these Hens OF popular inter.
eat. the Phases OF the Planets and tue EX-
posjtion nf tue Signs. This particular
almanac existed only in manuscript, and
was written 10 The year 1885; Dut
IL was published as curiosity at
the beginning OF the present century.
With The invention VI printing, almanacs
passed from the libraries OF colleges into
something approaching general circulation.
1t Is singular bat the earliest printed exam
nile was published In an almost unknown
capital. The town Of Budapest 10 Hun
gary, issued in l475 an aimaDac-or. as it
STYLED II, q "kaltndar "-racuIaied Ter
three successive years. Nothing could be
more meaere than this publication. There
was nothing about surgery or blood letting.
nothing about medicines or the history OF
the world. The ecIlpses were indeed pre-.
dicted, and for three years to come the
places OF the planets were asctrtaineG /;
briskly that the whole Impression
was soon dispersed through Germa-
nv. Italy, France. and England. In
France, as we have seen, the tendency 10
prophecy led to The necessity for re>tric.
fiop. and the publication suffered little
from ROYAL censorship. But the depeL d.
ence which rendered it less Interesting was
ia turn 20 make il more Trustworthy. Ii
was in 1879 that the Aimdn0ch ROgdt was
able to show on Its title page that us publ
cation vas privileged. Ii, too, was at first
but meegrc production. The insertion
OF the phases Of the moon and OF the posi-
ton Of the planets was kind OF c0Dces-
sion TO old popular prejudice. while the list
OF the towns in which money was struck,
the enumeration of The days on which
the posts went out, the principal fairs
I'm country towns, and the principal
fttes at royal palaces. all stamped
the pamphlet with an official character. In
100 further details were added, and the
idea, afterwards so successfully carried out
In the AimdRdch de G0thd, was introduced.
The names and birthdays OF all the princes
and processes OF Europe were given in 4
trustworthy form. and lists were added OF
the clergy, the bar. the diplomatic corps,
and the army. Tue letters OF pryiIe e
20 coilect 10 all quarters all necessary iniOr-
@aion-pdrioM oct 6eSOin Serd were the
words OF privilege; and the almanac soon
attained that kind OF authority nov enjoyed
BY Its rival ,ssded from The obscure little
Ge9man town OF iSOths.
OF FRENCH ORIGIN.
II was from the Frenen that our earliest
English almanac was to tie derived. IL made
its appearance iust twenty years after The
Buda. Pesth puhlk stioD, bur. unlike u, was
largely furnished with all kinds OF extra
ae0ue matter. The compiler became Oeca-
si0natly poeticai aOd occasionally ungram-
@aticai. but tbrou2 tont the volume showed
himseA consistently and -gloriously mysle-
rious. IL Is hard TO CONCEIVE The happen
Ing OF aay event which might not be
claimed ss the subject a. one OF his predie.
tions. There IS an ixa meusity about the
planets and their position. aud IT would
seem that tue general public were better
acqusinted with the mp OF The stars
than the map OF The world. 1t was printed
BY Richard Pynson ia 1897. aud was en-
titled shepbeard's KaIendar.s Other
aImanses followed this first one an q regular
series. Some nye-and twenty years ago a
most interesting example was found In an
old chest Ia Edinburgh, and hss since been
removed to The Bodeian, where 1t may be
consulted. II bears on its ti'ie.page that II |
was EDpryp,ed In the FIete etrete by
Wynkyn de Worde," and consists OF hieen
leaves, each leaf about Two inches square. |
Bur these modest dimensions were not Iopg
adhered TO. AS the years advanced
and the poDulace became educated
ulmsnac, were for them very much
wbst msgaziDes are Jor W. Soon,
90. they took up speeialtIes, and
81. ,,.xt,,hfo.f gelted un0n lis OWu Dtbijc