ALMANAC OF PREDICTIONS (1704-14)

Book or table containing a calendar of the daus, weeks, and months of the year; a register of ecclesiastical festivals ans saints days; and a record of various astronomical phenomena, often with weather prognostications and seasonal suggestions for the countryman. The term, of medieval Atabic origin, means the place where camels kneel; it later came to mean a camsite or settlement and, finally, the weather at the specific site. In modern Arabic, almanac is the only word for weather. The seasonal nature of weather in Arab countries permitted weather projections to be made from star positions; hence, almanacs were compiled.


Almanacs have appeared in some form since the beginnings of astronomy. Probably the earliest almanacs now extant are those in manuscripts of the early 12th century. The first standard almanacs, such as those produced by John Somers (1380) and Nicolas de Lynne (1386), were issued at Oxford.


Scottish observers pioneered astrological almanacs during the 1500s and 1600s. Notable was Edinburgh´s True Almanack, or a New Prognostication (begun in 1683), a format which inn 1837 became Oliver and Boyd´s New Edinburgh Almac, the standard reference for Scottish affairs.


Most early English almanacs were published by the Stationer´s Company; the most famous of them is the Vox Stellarum of Francis Moore (1657-1715?), the first number of which was completed in July 1700 and contained predictions for 1701.


The first American almanacs were printed in Cambridge, Mass,. under the supervision of Harvard College (the first book issued from the college press was An Almanack for the Year of Our Lord 1639. Calculated for New England. By Mr. William Pierce, Mariner). Nevertheless, a persistent American myth holds that Benjamin Franklin founded the U.S. almanac in Philadelphia. Franklin´s brother James printed The Rhode Island Almanac in 1728, and Benjamin Franklin (under the nom de plume of Richard Saunders) began his Poor Richard´s Almanack, the most famous U.S. almanac, in Philadelphia five years later.


The 18th-century almanac was the forerunner of the modern magazine; departing from newspaper format (one sheet of paper folded twice, until the late 1800s), they were composed of ten or more sheets stitched together.


With the almanac as a guide, the farmer could reset a stopped clock, tell the time of day, and estimate the proper season for all chores. It also furnished much incidental information -instructive and entertaining as well- which made it greatly appreciated where other reading matter was scarce.


Modern astronomical almanacs list the daily positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and certain stars, which can be used for the determination of local time. In adition, tables for computing precession, mutation, and aberration are included, along with special events, such as eclipses of the Sun and Moon, occultation of stars by the Moon, and the positions of the satellites of Jupiter.


The compilation of the astronomical almanac is a cooperative effort of several governments (United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Spain) and is published several years in advance.