American almanacs explained

A tradition of almanacs published for the purposes of North America began in New England in the 17th century. A New World's dwelling would seldom be found without the latest print of North American almanac and The Pilgrim's Progress.

The earliest almanac published for New England appeared in Cambridge, Massachusetts as early as 1639, by William Pierce. It was the second work printed in the English colonies of America altogether (the first being The Oath of a Free-man, printed earlier in the same year).[1] The earliest New England almanac of which an extant copy survives in the Library of Congress[2] was published by Zechariah Brigden in Cambridge in 1659.[3] Harvard College became the first center for the annual publication of almanacs with various editors including Samuel Danforth, Oakes, Cheever, Chauncey, Dudley, Foster, et alia. An almanac maker going under the pseudonym of Poor Richard, Knight of the Burnt Island began to publish Poor Robin's Almanack one of the first comic almanacs that parodied these horoscopes in its 1664 issue, saying "This month we may expect to hear of the Death of some Man, Woman, or Child, either in Kent or Christendom." Other noteworthy comic almanacs include those published from 1687-1702 by John Tully of Saybrook, Connecticut. The Boston ephemeris was an early almanac published in Boston during the 1680s.[4]

The most important early American almanacs were made from 1726-1775 by Nathaniel Ames of Dedham, Massachusetts. Many colonists sewed blank pages into their almanacs to keep a daily journal. Daily journal entries consisted of buildings being built, debt and spending, the death of neighbors, personal diaries, earthquakes, and weather. A few years later James Franklin began publishing the Rhode-Island Almanack beginning in 1728. Five years later his brother Benjamin Franklin began publishing Poor Richard's Almanack from 1733–1758. Benjamin Banneker improved on the Almanac from 1792–1797.

Almanacs Published in United States

From the late 18th to early 19th century, there began a fashion of Farmers' Almanacs published regionally in the newly independent United States.

References

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Burdick 2010, p. 186.
  2. Burdick 2010, p. 366.
  3. An almanack of the cœlestial motion for this present year of the Christian æra 1659: being (in our account) bissextile or leapyear, and from the creation (according to truest computation) 5608; whose vulgar notes are ... fitted to 315 degrees of longitude, the (supposed) meridian of the Massachusetts Bay ... and may without any sensible errour be applyed to any part of New-England
  4. The Boston ephemeris: an almanack for the year MDCLXXXIV, and of the worlds creation 5633, oppidi inchoati, 55; being the first after leap-year, of which the vulgar notes are ... calculated for the meridian of Boston in New-Engl. where the North Pole is elevated 42 gr. 30 m. longitude 315 gr, edited by Benjamin Gillam, printed by S. Green for S. Phillips.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "American almanacs".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.