1609: Shepherds

Shepherds' calendars

The KB collection includes two Dutch shepherds' calendars from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, re-prints of a French edition from 1510 and an English impression from 1506. Interest in this special almanac has always been considerable, even among the common people.

France

The first shepherds' calendar was printed in 1491 (2 May) by Guyot Marchant, whose workshop was in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The work was entitled Kalendrier des Bergiers. It was the first illustrated French almanac. Only one copy is known to exist of the first impression, now kept in the Bibliothèque Mazarine in Parijs. A reprint appeared that same year under the title Le Compost et Kalendrier des Bergiers. Besides the addition of the word 'compost' (manual of the calendar arts) to the title, the contents were also expanded from 30 to 54 pages. In the following three centuries, this almanac was reprinted unchanged about 40 times in France alone. In addition to Paris, the shepherds' calendar was also printed in Troyes, Rouen, Lyon and Geneva.

England and Germany

English editions soon appeared as well, initially still published in Paris by Antoine Vérard in 1503, but in London starting in 1506. The first German edition was printed in Lübeck in 1519.

The Netherlands

The oldest Dutch 'scaepherders calengier' was printed in Brussels in 1511 by Thomas van der Noot. Production then moved to Antwerp, Maastricht, Den Bosch and, in 1609, to Rotterdam. Other farmers' or shepherds' almanacs were published in the Netherlands well into the nineteenth century, but except for the title these bore no relation to the original shepherds' calendars.

Popularity

What made this almanac so popular? The many splendid woodcuts first of all, ascribed to Pierre le Rouge and partly inspired by calendar illustrations from old books of hours and the Danse Macabre. But the almanac's success can also be ascribed to the wise proverbs it contains. The magical attraction of an idealized shepherd plays a significant role as well - someone whose days are spent philosophizing amidst his flock and whose nights are devoted to a detailed study of the stars. The shepherd is the symbol of a happy, satisfied and unpretentious man, someone with a rather carefree existence (as long as the wolves don't attack his sheep) who at the same time serves as a model for a healthy and, more important, less sinful life. The shepherd is a fictional figure and should not be regarded as the actual author. The shepherds' calendar in its primitive form was not a book either, but a compilation of various older works. As often happens, however, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.