Almanac

“ Doblado’s Letters from Spain.
THE LIEGE ALMANAC.
The celebrated almanac of “Francis Moore, physician,” to whose predictions thousands are accustomed to look with implicit confidence and veneration, is rivalled, on the continent, by the almanac of Liège, by “Matthew Laensberg,” who there enjoys an equal degree of celebrity. ”

“ I'm the seventh son of a seventh son, born in the seventh month, and I always take it as a good omen, seven being the perfect number. You know the ancients believed a man's star largely affected his destiny. You will find some interesting historical events enumerated under each month. A good [190] almanac is almost as interesting to study as a good dictionary, my boy. I would advise you to form a habit of referring to both of them frequently."
With one of his rare, childlike smiles the good man passed on, and Perkins's oldest was left with the almanac in his hands. ”

“ A Spanish friar and almanac-maker predicted, in clear and precise words, the death of Henry the Fourth of France; and Pieresc, though he had no faith in the vain science of astrology, yet, alarmed at whatever menaced the life of a beloved monarch, consulted with some of the king’s friends, and had the Spanish almanac laid before his majesty. That high-spirited monarch thanked them for their solicitude, but utterly slighted the prediction: the event occurred, and in 278 the following year the Spanish friar spread his own fame in a new almanac. ”

“ For a time he hesitated, and it was only the sudden publication of a brief but authoritative life of the poet which led him finally to the study of one of the least explored of our transit systems. Meanwhile he had to support himself. For this purpose he bought a roll-top desk, a typewriter, and an almanac; he placed the almanac on top of the desk, seated himself at the typewriter, and began. ”

“ Although still in vogue amongst the ignorant, their popularity is greatly on the wane.
In England, so far was any restraint from being put upon the publication of prophetic almanacs, or “prognostications,” as they were usually called, that royal letters patent gave a monopoly of the trade to the two universities and the Stationers' Company, under whose patronage, and with the imprimatur of the Archbishop of Canterbury, such productions as Moore's Almanac and Poor Robin's Almanac flourished vigorously ”

“ POND, EDWARD (fl. 1623) , almanac-maker, is described on the title-page of his almanac of 1601 as ‘a practitioner in the Mathematicks and Physicke at Bidarcay (?Billericay) in Essex.’ In this almanac he includes a diagram and description of ‘Man's Anatomy’ and ‘Physicke Notes.’ From 1604 he published an almanac each year in London under the title ‘Enchiridion, or Edward Pond his Eutheca.’ Subsequently the periodical issue was christened ‘An Almanac by Ed. ”

“ The majority of them were doubtless astrologers, but not a few were quack doctors, who only published their almanacs as advertisements.’ (Almanac, a character in The Staple of News, is described as a ‘doctor in physic.’)
Among the more famous almanac-makers the names of William Lilly, John Partridge and Bretnor may be mentioned. For the last see note 2. 1. 1, and B. & Fl., Rollo, Duke of Normandy, where Fiske and Bretnor appear again. Cf. also Alchemist, Wks. 4. 41; Every Man out, Wks. 2. 39-40; Mag. La., Wks. 6. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Almanacs for popular use, offer a means much used in France for the propagation of political, social and religious doctrines. Every sect and party issues its Almanac, and some issue several, crammed to the brim with the peculiar notions whose dissemination is wished for. ”

“ But the printing of it being a great hindrance to the sale of other almanacs, the Society of Booksellers in London bought off the copy for the future.’ No corroboration has been found of this statement of the vast number printed, and it may be suspected of exaggeration; there were certainly many disputes between the Oxford and London booksellers at the time. For some unknown reason the almanac is very rare, and even Wood did not possess one; the only known copy in a public library is in the Bodleian. ”

“ This is due principally to the fact that people keep their almanacs at hand throughout the year, and thus the advertisements printed in them are ever present to the public eye. Among the almanacs in America that are sold for a small price, the most important are probably the Old Farmers', issued in New England, and those coming from several great newspaper offices. ”

“ Almanacs containing astrological and other predictions are still published in Great Britain; but their influence is extremely limited, even among the most ignorant portion of the community, and their contents are fitted to excite amusement rather than any stronger emotion. In America, the publication of almanacs for popular use is confined very largely to the vendors of proprietary or patent nostrums and medicines. These persons distribute the almanacs gratuitously, judging rightly that they constitute a most excellent advertisement of their wares. ”

“ At the present time nearly every religious denomination, trade and newspaper have almanacs or year-books.
In France prophetic almanacs circulated very freely among the poorer and rural classes, although an ordonnance of Charles IX. required the seal of a diocesan bishop on all almanacs. In 1579 Henry III. prohibited the publication of predictions relating to political events, a prohibition renewed by Louis XIII. Of such almanacs, the most famous was the Almanack Liégeois first published in 1625 at Liége by Matthieu Laensbergh, a person of very problematic existence. ”

“ For the Nautical Almanac and similar publications, see EPHEMERIS.
ALMANDINE, or ALMANDITE, a name applied to certain kinds of precious garnet, being apparently a corruption of alabandicus, which is the name applied by Pliny to a stone found or worked at Alabanda, a town in Carla in Asia Minor. Almandine is an iron alumina garnet, of deep red colour inclining to purple. It is frequently cut with a convex face, or en cabochon, and is then known as carbuncle. Viewed through the spectroscope in a strong light, it generally shows three characteristic absorption bands, as first pointed out by Prof. ”

“ The attention given to astronomy by Eastern nations probably led to the early construction of such tables as are comprised in our almanacs; of these we know little or nothing. The fasti (q.v.) of the Romans are far better known and were similar to modern almanacs. Almanacs of a rude kind, known as clogg almanacs, consisting of square blocks of hard wood, about 8 in. in length, with notches along the four angles corresponding to the days of the year, were in use in some parts of England as late as the end of the 17th century. ”

“ Many almanacs are at the present day published in France under the title of Annuaires, or Annuaires-Almanachs. On the other hand, literary annuals and albums are published in France, Germany, and other countries under the title of almanacs, as for instance the German Musenalmanach, and the French Almanach des muses. Germany originated these annual collections about 1815, and they circulate there more extensively than the ordinary almanacs do in other European countries. ”

“ After whiling away an hour, during the interval of his pupil's absence, by a walk in the streets, the rector returned to his hotel, and, finding the newspaper disengaged in the coffee-room, sat down absently to look over it. His eye, resting idly on the title-page, was startled into instant attention by the very first advertisement that it chanced to light on at the head of the column. There was Allan's mysterious namesake again, figuring in capital letters, and associated this time (in the character of a dead man) with the offer of a pecuniary reward. ”

“ These were happy days for poor Almansor, for the professor never sent him away empty-handed, but [Pg 171] gave him sometimes money, and sometimes underwear, and other useful things with which the doctor would not provide him. And so he lived for some years in the capital of France, without his longing for home ever growing less. When he was about fifteen years of age something happened which had a great influence upon his fortunes. The Franks, or the French as he was taught to call them, chose for their Emperor the general who had once made a pet of Almansor in Egypt. ”

“ It is not the least singular circumstance in the history of this extraordinary people, that those who, in the enthusiasm of their first successes, were the sworn foes of literature, should become for several ages its exclusive patrons. Almansor, the founder of Bagdad, has the merit of first exciting this spirit, which was encouraged in a still greater degree by his grandson Almamon. This caliph employed his agents in Armenia, Syria, Egypt, and at Constantinople, in collecting the most celebrated works on Grecian science, and had them translated into the Arabic language. ”

“ This man was very learned and understood a great many Eastern languages, Arabic, Persian, Coptic, and even Chinese, and made a great deal of money by teaching them to other people. He invited Almansor to visit him several times a week, gave him fruit and cakes, and made him feel very much at home. He was a most extraordinary old man, for he ordered clothes for Almansor such as high-class people in Egypt wear, and kept them in a certain room in his house. ”

“ But, if we do not still study his theology, there is one book of Aldrich's in all our hands, if not in our heads—a book which made his name sound strangely familiar to us from our earliest infancy at Oxford, but which left him draped in all the mythical wonder and awe of a legendary hero. Few of us, as Freshmen, would not have felt a shock at identifying the creator of the Logic with any historic reality. ”

“ Almamen approached the king, as he now stood by the open balcony.
"Behold!" said he, pointing to the waters of the Darro—"yonder stream is of an element in which man cannot live nor breathe: above, in the thin and impalpable air, our steps cannot find a footing, the armies of all earth cannot build an empire. And yet, by the exercise of a little art, the fishes and the birds, the inhabitants of the air and the water, minister to our most humble wants, the most common of our enjoyments; so it is with the true science of enchantment. ”

“ These words struck me dumb with astonishment, though I had some doubt of their truth: but Almalic, throwing back his garment, discovered the peculiarity of his vest, and put the royal signet upon his finger. I then started up, and was about to prostrate myself before him, but he prevented me: “Hassan,” said he, “forbear; thou art greater than I, and from thee I have at once derived humility and wisdom.” I answered, “Mock not thy servant, who is but as a worm before thee; life and death are in thy hand, and happiness and misery are the daughters of thy will.” ”

“ Now there are robbers upon the high seas just as there are in the desert, and the small ship was seized by a pirate ship from Tunis, and all the crew were sent to Algiers and sold as slaves. Almansor was not so badly off as the Christians, because he was a Mussulman and a true Believer, but notwithstanding he began to abandon all hope of ever seeing his father’s house again. He had been purchased by a rich man, and for five years he lived with him, cultivating his garden and rearing his flowers. ”

“ Alman. If this be a specimen of your previous conversation, we know not what we have lost by our absence. But I suspect, that the principal ingredient of poetry, fiction, has a little aided in the embellishment of your story.
Belin. This is not very gallant or complimentary on your part, Almansa. I harbour no suspicion of its verity; for marvellous things have been told me, by my brother, of the whimsical phrensies of book-fanciers.
Loren. If you will only listen a little to Lysander's sequel, you will hear almost equally marvellous things ”

“ In his tragedy "Almansor," written during the years 1820 and 1821, [226] his deep-rooted antipathy to Christianity finds strong expression through Almansor, although the countervailing arguments are eloquently stated by the heroine. ”

“ If Almanzor, at the command of his mistress, aids his hated rival to the destruction of his own hopes, he only discharges the duty of a good knight, who was bound to sacrifice himself, and all his hopes and wishes, at the slightest command of her, to whom he had vowed his service, and who, in the language of chivalry, was to him as the soul is to the body. ”

“ Bearing such noble arms, the so-called bastard of the Valois had the right to get into all the royal carriages of the world.
Many persons envied the quiet existence of this old bachelor, spent on whist, boston, backgammon, reversi, and piquet, all well played, on dinners well digested, snuff gracefully inhaled, and tranquil walks about the town. Nearly all Alencon believed this life to be exempt from ambitions and serious interests; but no man has a life as simple as envious neighbors attribute to him. ”

“ There was a hurried whispered [262] conversation, in which the Critic and the Journalist joined. When it was over, the Doctor said, "I understand," and returned to our group.
"Well, good friends," he said, "it really is farewell to the garden! The Critic and I are going to stay a bit. We are needed. The Youngster will drive one car, and the Lawyer the other. Get ready to start by three,—that will be just before daylight—and get into the house, all of you. You are in the way here!" ”