Wikipedia

Almanac

For other uses, seeAlmanac (disambiguation).

Analmanac(also spelledalmanackandalmanach) is a regularly published listing of a set of current information about one or multiple subjects.[1]It includes information likeweather forecasts,farmers'plantingdates,tide tables,and othertabulardataoften arranged according to thecalendar.Celestial figures and various statistics are found in almanacs, such as therisingandsettingtimes of theSunandMoon,dates ofeclipses,hours of high and lowtides,andreligious festivals.The set of events noted in an almanac may be tailored for a specific group of readers, such as farmers, sailors, or astronomers.

Old Moore's Almanackis anastrological almanacwhich has been published in Britain since 1697.
Cover of the Horsford 1887 almanac and cook book, published byRumford Chemical Works,Providence, Rhode Island,US

Name

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The etymology of the word is unclear. The earliest documented use of the word in something like its current sense is inLatinin 1267.Roger Baconused it to mean a set of tables detailing movements of heavenly bodies including the Moon.

It has been suggested that the wordalmanacderives from aGreekword meaningcalendar.[2]However, that word appears only once in antiquity, byEusebiuswho quotesPorphyryas to the Coptic Egyptian use of astrological charts (almenichiaká). The earliest almanacs were calendars that included agricultural, astronomical, or meteorological data. But it is highly unlikely Roger Bacon received the word from this etymology: "Notwithstanding the suggestive sound and use of this word (of which however the real form is very uncertain), the difficulties of connecting it historically either with theSpanish Arabicmanākh, or withMedieval Latinalmanachwithout Arabic intermediation, seem insurmountable. "[3]

One etymology report says "The ultimate source of the word is obscure. Its first syllable, al-, and its general relevance to medieval science and technology, strongly suggest anArabicorigin, but no convincing candidate has been found ".[4]Ernest Weekleysimilarly states ofalmanac:"First seen in Roger Bacon. Apparently from Spanish Arabic,al-manakh,but this is not an Arabic word....The word remains a puzzle. "[5]Walter William Skeatconcludes that the construction of an Arabic origin is "not satisfactory".[6]TheOxford English Dictionarysimilarly says "the word has no etymon in Arabic" but indirect circumstantial evidence "points to a Spanish Arabical-manākh".[7]The Oxford Dictionary of English says that the word origin is "via Old French and medieval Latin from Spanish Arabic al-manāk ('the calendar')".

The reason why the proposed Arabic word is speculatively spelledal-manākhis that the spelling occurred as "almanach", as well as almanac (and Roger Bacon used both spellings). The earliest use of the word was in the context of astronomy calendars. The Arabic wordالمناخal-munākhhas different meanings in contemporary Arabic than in classical Arabic usage. The word originally meant "the place where camels kneel [so riders and baggage can disembark]". In contemporary Arabic, the word means "climate".[8]

The prestige of theTables of Toledoand othermedieval Arabic astronomy worksat the time of the word's emergence in the West, together with the absence of the word in Arabic, suggest it may have been invented in the West and is pseudo-Arabic. At that time in the West, it would have been prestigious to attach an Arabic appellation to a set of astronomical tables. Also around that time, prompted by that motive, the Latin writerPseudo-Geberwrote under an Arabic pseudonym. (The later alchemical wordalkahestis known to be pseudo-Arabic.)

History

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Hemerologies and parapegmata

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The 1st cent.Menologium Rusticum Colotianum,discovered inRomeand now held by theArcheological MuseuminNaples

The earlier texts considered to be almanacs have been found in theNear East,dating back to the middle of the second millennium BC. They have been called generally hemerologies, from the Greek wordhēmerologion,"calendar" (fromhēmera,meaning "day" ).[9]Among them is the so-calledBabylonian Almanac,which lists favorable and unfavorable days with advice on what to do on each of them. Successive variants and versions aimed at different readership have been found.[10]Egyptian lists of good and bad moments, three times each day, have also been found. Many of these prognostics were connected with celestial events.[11][12][13]The flooding of the Nile valley, a most important event in ancient Egypt, was expected to occur at the summer solstice, but as the civil calendar had exactly 365 days, over the centuries, the date was drifting in the calendar.[note 1]The firstheliacal risingof Sirius was used for its prediction and this practice, the observation of some star and its connecting to some event apparently spread.

The Greek almanac, known as parapegma, has existed in the form of an inscribed stone on which the days of the month were indicated by movable pegs inserted into bored holes, hence the name. There were also written texts and according toDiogenes Laërtius,Parapegmawas the title of a book byDemocritus.[14]Ptolemy,theAlexandrianastronomer (2nd century) wrote a treatise,Phaseis— "phases of fixed stars and collection of weather-changes" is the translation of its full title—the core of which is aparapegma,a list of dates of seasonally regular weather changes, first appearances and last appearances ofstarsorconstellationsat sunrise or sunset, and solar events such assolstices,all organized according to the solar year. With the astronomical computations were expected weather phenomena, composed as a digest of observations made by various authorities of the past.Parapegmatahad been composed for centuries. Ptolemy believed that astronomical phenomena caused the changes in seasonal weather; his explanation of why there was not an exact correlation of these events was that the physical influences of other heavenly bodies also came into play. Hence for him, weather prediction was a special division ofastrology.[15]

Surviving Romanmenologia rusticacombined schedules of solar information andagricultural activitiesthroughout the year with the months'tutelary deitiesandmajor festivals.By theimperial period,each month was headed with illustrations of its chiefastrological signs,matching Romangeoponical tractsthat often combined guidance for the proper conditions for different activities with the stars present during that period rather than using thecivil calendar.

Ephemerides, zijs and tables

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The origins of the almanac can be connected to ancientBabylonian astronomy,when tables of planetary periods were produced in order to predict lunar and planetary phenomena.[16]Similar treatises calledZijwere later composed in medievalIslamic astronomy.

The modern almanac differs from Babylonian, Ptolemaic and Zij tables in the sense that "the entries found in the almanacs give directly the positions of the celestial bodies and need no further computation", in contrast to the more common "auxiliary astronomical tables" based on Ptolemy'sAlmagest.The earliest known almanac in this modern sense is theAlmanac of Azarqueilwritten in 1088 byAbū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī(Latinized as Arzachel) inToledo,al-Andalus.The work provided the true daily positions of the sun, moon and planets for four years from 1088 to 1092, as well as many other related tables. ALatintranslation and adaptation of the work appeared as theTables of Toledoin the 12th century and theAlfonsine tablesin the 13th century.[17]

A page from the Almanac for theHindu year1871–72

Medieval examples

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MS. 8932. Medieval folding almanac (15th century)[18]

After almanacs were devised, people still saw little difference between predicting the movements of the stars and tides, and predicting the future in thedivinationsense. Early almanacs therefore contained generalhoroscopes,as well as natural information. An example is the folded almanac Western MS.8932 (Wellcome Collection, London), produced in England between 1387 and 1405, is a calendar with astrological tables and diagrams used by medical practitioners to harness astrological information relating to health.[19]In 1150Solomon Jarchuscreated such an almanac considered to be among the first modern examples. Copies of 12th century almanacs are found in the British Museum, and in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. In 1300,Petrus de Daciacreated an almanac (Savilian Library, Oxford) the same year Roger Bacon, OFM, produced his own. In 1327Walter de Elvendenecreated an almanac and later onJohn Somersof Oxford, in 1380. In 1386 Nicholas de Lynne, Oxford produced an almanac. In 1457 the first printed almanac was published at Mainz, by Gutenberg (eight years before the famous Bible). Regio-Montanus produced an almanac in 1472 (Nuremberg, 1472), which continued in print for several centuries. In 1497 theSheapheard's Kalendar,translated from French (Richard Pynson) became the first almanac to be printed in English.

Early modern era

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An English Prophetic Almanack, 1825

England

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By the second half of the 16th century, yearly almanacs were being produced in England by authors such as Anthony Askham, Thomas Buckminster, John Dade and Gabriel Frende. In the 17th century, English almanacs were bestsellers, second only to the Bible; by the middle of the century, 400,000 almanacs were being produced annually (a complete listing can be found in theEnglish Short Title Catalogue). Until its deregulation in 1775, the Stationers' Company maintained a lucrative monopoly over almanac publication in England.[20]Richard Allestree (not to be confused withRichard Allestree(1621/22–1681), provost of Eton College) wrote one of the more popular English almanacs, producing yearly volumes from 1617 to 1643, but his is by no means the earliest or the longest-running almanac.

Works that satirized this type of publication appeared in the late 1500s. During the next century, a writer using the pseudonym of "Poor Richard, Knight of the Burnt Island" began to publish a series of such parodies that were entitledPoor Robin's Almanack.The 1664 issue of the series stated: "This month we may expect to hear of the Death of some Man, Woman, or Child, either inKentor Christendom. "[21]

British America and United States

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The first almanac printed in theThirteen ColoniesofBritish Americawas William Pierce's 1639An Almanac Calculated forNew England.The almanac was the first in a series of such publications thatStephen Daye,or Day, printed each year until 1649 inCambridge, Massachusetts.[22]The Cambridge/Bostonarea in Massachusetts soon became the first center in the colonies for the annual publication of almanacs,[23]to be followed byPhiladelphiaduring the first half of the eighteenth century.[24]

Title page of 1739 edition of Benjamin Franklin'sPoor Richard's Almanack

Nathaniel AmesofDedham, Massachusetts,issued his popularAstronomical Diary and Almanackin 1725 and annually afterc. 1732.[25]James FranklinpublishedTheRhode IslandAlmanackby "Poor Robin" for each year from 1728 to 1735.[26]James' brother,Benjamin Franklin,published his annualPoor Richard's Almanackin Philadelphia from 1732 to 1758.[27]

Samuel StearnsofPaxton, Massachusetts,issued theNorth-American Almanack,published annually from 1771 to 1784, as well as the first American nautical almanac,The Navigator's Kalendar, or Nautical Almanack, for 1783.[28]Andrew EllicottofEllicott's Upper Mills,Maryland,authored a series of almanacs,The United States Almanack,the earliest known copy of which bears the date of 1782.[29]Benjamin Banneker,a freeAfrican Americanliving near Ellicott's Mills, composed a series of almanacs for the years of 1792 to 1797.[30]

Contemporary use

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Currently published almanacs such asWhitaker's Almanackhave expanded their scope and contents beyond that of their historical counterparts. Modern almanacs include a comprehensive presentation of statistical and descriptive data covering the entire world. Contents also include discussions of topical developments and a summary of recent historical events. Other currently published almanacs (ca. 2006) includeTIME Almanac with Information Please,World Almanac and Book of Facts,The Farmer's AlmanacandThe Old Farmer's Almanacand The Almanac for Farmers & City Folk. TheInverness Almanac,an almanac/literary journal, was published in West Marin, California, from 2015 to 2016.[31]In 2007, Harrowsmith Country Life Magazine launched a Canadian Almanac, written in Canada, with all-Canadian content. The nonprofit agrarian organization the Greenhorns currently publishesThe New Farmer's Almanacas a resource for young farmers.[32]

Major topics covered by almanacs (reflected by their tables of contents) include:geography,government,demographics,agriculture,economicsandbusiness,healthandmedicine,religion,mass media,transportation,scienceandtechnology,sport,andawards/prizes.

Other examples includeThe Almanac of American Politicspublished byColumbia Books & Information Services,TheAlmanac of British Politics,theWapsipinicon Almanac,and theCalendari dels Pagesos,a Catalan-language almanac published in Catalonia since 1861.[33]

TheGPS almanac,as part of the data transmitted by each GPS satellite, contains coarse orbit and status information for all satellites in the constellation, an ionospheric model, and information to relate GPS derived time to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Hence the GPS almanac provides a similar goal as the ancient Babylonian almanac, to find celestial bodies.[34]

National Geographic Kidsannually publishes a series of books titled "Almanac" (e.g. "Almanac 2025" ), which typically contain information on animals, science and technology, and the natural world, among other things.

Notes

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  1. ^The new year coincides with the summer solstice once in 1441 years, which is known as thesothic period.

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Almanac Definition & Meaning".Merriam-Webster.4 June 2024.Retrieved23 June2024.
  2. ^Agnes, Michael, ed. (2003)."Almanac".Webster's New World Dictionary(4th ed.). New York: Pocket Books. p. 18.ISBN978-0-7434-7069-8.Retrieved30 November2019.
  3. ^Oxford English Dictionary
  4. ^Ayto, John (2005).Word Origins: The Hidden Histories of English Words from A to Z(2nd ed.). London: A & C Black.ISBN978-0-7136-7498-9.Retrieved30 November2019.
  5. ^Weekley, Ernest(1921)."Almanac".An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English.London: John Murray. pp.33–34.ISBN978-0486218731.Retrieved30 November2019.
  6. ^Skeat, Walter W.(1888)."Almanac".An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language.London: Clarendon Press. pp.17–18.ASINB00088OD6Q.Retrieved30 November2019.
  7. ^"Almanac" inNew English Dictionary on Historical Principles(which has an extra "note as to the origin and history of the wordalmanac").
  8. ^"مناخ".Almaany المعاني.
  9. ^ἡμερολόγιον,ἡμέρα.Liddell, Henry George;Scott, Robert;A Greek–English Lexiconat thePerseus Project.
  10. ^Livingstone, A. (1998) "The use of magic in the Assyrian and Babylonian hemerologies and menolgies." Studi epigrafici e linguistici sul Vicino Oriente antico 15 (1998) 59.
  11. ^Porceddu, S.; Jetsu, L.; Lyytinen, J.; Kajatkari, P.; Lehtinen, J.; Markkanen, T.; Toivari-Viitala, J. (2008)."Evidence of Periodicity in Ancient Egyptian Calendars of Lucky and Unlucky Days".Cambridge Archaeological Journal.18(3):327–339.Bibcode:2008CArcJ..18..327P.doi:10.1017/S0959774308000395.S2CID162969143.
  12. ^Jetsu, L.; Porceddu, S.; Lyytinen, J.; Kajatkari, P.; Lehtinen, J.; Markkanen, T.; Toivari-Viitala, J. (2013). "Did the Ancient Egyptians Record the Period of the Eclipsing Binary Algol — The Raging One?".The Astrophysical Journal.773(1): A1 (14pp).arXiv:1204.6206.Bibcode:2013ApJ...773....1J.doi:10.1088/0004-637X/773/1/1.S2CID119191453.
  13. ^Jetsu, L.; Porceddu, S. (2015)."Shifting Milestones of Natural Sciences: The Ancient Egyptian Discovery of Algol's Period Confirmed".PLOS ONE.10(12): e.0144140 (23pp).arXiv:1601.06990.Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1044140J.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0144140.PMC4683080.PMID26679699.
  14. ^Lehoux D.,Parapegmata, Astrology, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World(thesis), National Library of Canada, 2000; includes a list of surviving parapegmata (plural of 'parapegma') and bibliography.
  15. ^"Ptolemy's Astronomical Works (other than the Almagest)".Archived fromthe originalon 2007-02-08.Retrieved2007-04-16.
  16. ^Glick, Thomas F.; Livesey, Steven; Wallis, Faith (January 27, 2014).Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia.Routledge.ISBN9781135459390– via Google Books.
  17. ^Glick, Thomas F.; Livesey, Steven; Wallis, Faith (January 27, 2014).Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia.Routledge.ISBN9781135459390– via Google Books.
  18. ^"MS. 8932. Medieval folding almanac (15th century)",Wellcome Images, Wikimedia Commons
  19. ^Calà E., Salis A., Damonte G., Signorello, Stefania S., Brenner E., Carey J., Aceto, M.,“Identification of aloe and other dyes by means of SERS and HPLC-DAD-MS in the embroidery of a 15th century English folded almanac”,Dyes and Pigments, Vol. 194, (October 2021)
  20. ^Lyons, Martyn. (2011). Books: A living history. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Publications. pp. 123
  21. ^Smyth, Adam (2016). Kesson, Andy; Smith, Emma (eds.).Chapter 5: Almanacs and Ideas of Popularity.Abingdon,Oxon:Routledge.p. 132.ISBN9781315615967.LCCN2012050687.OCLC948605113.Retrieved2019-01-02– viaGoogle Books.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
  22. ^(1)Thomas, Isiah (1874).Catalog of Books printed by Daye.Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). New York: Burt Franklin. pp.46–48 – viaGoogle Books.1639. An Almanack, calculated for New England. By Mr. Pierce, Mariner{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
    (2)The First Almanac.London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Road. 1888. p.34– viaInternet Archive.It is a fact upon which most bibliographers agree, that the first almanac printed in America came out in 1639, and was entitled "An Almanac Calculated for New England" by Mr. Pierce, Mariner. The printer was Stephen Day, or Daye, to whom belongs the title of the first printer in North America. The press was at Cambridge, Mass., and its introduction was effected mainly through Rev. Jesse Glover, a wealthy Nonconformist minister, who had only recently left England.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
    (3)North, Simon Newton Dexter (1884).Almanacs and Annual Publications.Washington: Government Printing Office. p.55– viaInternet Archive.In 1639 appeared in Cambridge "An Almanac Calculated for New England", by Mr. William Pierce, Mariner{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
    (4)Morrison, p. 32.
  23. ^Morrison, Hugh Alexander (February 12, 1907)."Preliminary Check List of American Almanacs, 1639-1800".U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
  24. ^Morrison, Hugh Alexander (February 12, 1907)."Preliminary Check List of American Almanacs, 1639-1800".U.S. Government Printing Office – via Google Books.
  25. ^"Ames, Nathaniel".Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed.February 2013. p. 1.Retrieved2018-05-28– viaEBSC Host Connection.[dead link‍]
  26. ^(1)Poor Robin (James Franklin) (1727)."The Rhode-Island almanack. For the year, 1728. Being bissextile, or leap-year. Carefully fitted, and exact- [sic] calculated to the meridian of Newport on Rhode-Island; whose latitude north is 41 gr. 30 m. longitude from London 72 grs. But may without sensible error, serve all parts of New-England. Being the first ever published for that meridian".OCLC70091122.Retrieved2018-05-28– viaInternet Archive.
    (2)Chapin, Howard M. (1915).Check List of Rhode Island Almanacs, 1643-1850.Worcester, Massachusetts:American Antiquarian Society.pp.14–15.LCCN16002536.OCLC964275– viaGoogle Books.
  27. ^Goodrich, Charles A. (1829).Benjamin Franklin.New York: W. Reed & Co. p.267.OCLC2343155.Retrieved2015-04-24– viaInternet Archive.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
  28. ^"New Acquisition: First Masonic Almanac Published in the United States".Lexington, Massachusetts:Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library.2012-07-24.Retrieved2018-12-30.Samuel Stearns(1741-1809), the author whose name appears on the cover of The Free Mason's Calendar, was a physician and astronomer. In addition to the Free Mason's Calendar, he issued other almanacs, including the North-American Almanack, published annually from 1771–1784, as well as the first American nautical almanac, The Navigator's Kalendar, or Nautical Almanack, for 1783.
  29. ^Davis, Nancy M. (2001-08-26)."Andrew Ellicott: Astronomer…mathematician…surveyor".Philadelphia Connection.Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation: Philadelphia Chapter. Archived from the original on 2006-01-09.Retrieved2018-09-28.After the war, he (Ellicott) returned to Fountainvale, the family home in Ellicott Upper Mills, and published a series of almanacs, 'The United States Almanack.' (The earliest known copy is dated 1782.)
  30. ^"Benjamin Banneker".Shakeospeare.TheUniversity of IowaLibraries. 2017-03-14. Archived fromthe originalon 2017-03-14.Retrieved2017-03-14.
  31. ^"Inverness Almanac".November 29, 2016. Archived fromthe originalon 2016-11-29.
  32. ^"Greenhorns - To Promote, Recruit and Support Young Farmers in America".
  33. ^La Vanguardia, 27/12/2010,El ‘Calendari dels Pagesos' cumple 150 años de publicación ininterrumpida, y una muestra cuenta su historia en el Museu Etnològic de Barcelona
  34. ^Zahradnik, Fred."What Is a GPS Almanac?".Lifewire.
General references

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toAlmanacs.
Wikisourcehas original text related to this article:
This collection from Conner Prairie's Archive includes almanacs ranging from 1783 to 1857. Sixty-four in total are available online.
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