Harold Jacoby

“ The Stationers' Company, however, still maintained their ground by buying up all rival almanacs; and it was not until the publication, in 1828, of the British Almanac, by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, that the eyes of the English public became opened to the irrational and deleterious nature of the commodity which their own indifference or folly, as much as the selfishness of their purveyors, had hitherto maintained in existence. In Scotland the earliest almanacs seem to have been produced about the beginning of the sixteenth century. ”

“ The Nautical Almanac or Astronomical Ephemeris is of the greatest importance to astronomers, as it contains collections of numerical data required in the computation of their celestial observations, which are equally necessary to enable navigators to find their way across the sea by the aid of the sextant.
The preparation and publication of these almanacs, though most important, are so costly, that they are possible only to the great financial resources of governments, and it is largely for this purpose that governmental astronomical observatories are maintained. ”

“ The Almanach Liégeois is a most convenient one for those who are unable to read, for by certain symbols attached to certain dates the most unlettered persons can follow its instructions; thus, the rude representation of a vial announces the proper phase of the moon under which a draught of medicine should be taken; a pill-box designates the planet most propitious for pills ”