Christian calendar

At the time of the exhibition 'A matter of time' in the KB, the question when a new millennium starts was a very topical one. Was it 1 January 2000 or 1 January 2001? Our Christian calendar was introduced in the sixth century in Rome. Since the concept of zero was not yet known in Europe, the first year became the year 1. Consequently, the first century ended with the year 100 and not with the year 99. For the same reason, the last year of the second millennium is 2000 and not 1999.

Almanacs

In the wake of this interest in time and chronology, almanacs have attracted extra attention. But what exactly is an almanac? For a long time, 'almanac' and 'calendar' were regarded as equivalent terms. Dozens of books are being published today that are called almanacs but have very little in common with calendars, such as the tax almanac, the Almanak praktisch gezondheidsrecht (Almanac of practical health law) and the IT almanak. The only thing that historical and modern almanacs have in common is that they provide information that can be utilized for a particular period - usually one year. If every book with a life span of one or several years is to be regarded as an almanac, then address and telephone books, appointment diaries, yearbooks and astrological books should also be included. In previous centuries the almanac contained features with precisely this kind of information. In our time the almanac has been divided up, with the various practical sections leading lives of their own.

The past

Human beings were aware of time very early on, and they also felt the need to measure and record time. The very earliest printed calendars do not come from Europe, however, but from China, where they were being made as early as 877 during the Tang Dynasty. A specimen of this calendar can be found in the British Library. In Europe, almanacs are among the earliest products of the printing press. Johannes Gutenberg of Mainz, the inventor of movable type, is regarded as the printer of three calendars: the Turkish Calendar, printed in December 1454, the Laxier Calendar of 1457 and the Astronomical Calendar of 1458. Other places where early almanacs were printed are Vienna (1462), Augsburg (1470), Nuremberg (1473) and Strasbourg (1473). The oldest known Dutch almanac dates from 1476 and was printed in Leuven by Jan Veldener. Most medieval almanacs still followed this form.
In the sixteenth century, almanacs were expanded to include all sorts of information such as astrological predictions (prognostics), medical advice, commercial information about postal services, city gates, markets and rates of exchange, and later also included texts for popular amusement and even advice about politics. Almanacs were increasingly used to provide guidance for everyday living.
In the Netherlands, the almanac's heyday occurred in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. There was a genuine almanac culture in that period. Each year saw the re-appearance of dozens of publications tailored for particular population groups: businessmen, soldiers, women, children, Protestants, Catholics, Jews, students, Freemasons, farmers, lovers of belles-lettres, and so on. There is really no imaginable subject that has not been dealt with in an almanac some time or other.     

Exterior

There was variety not only in the almanac's contents but also in its outward form, which was as diverse as the human exterior: sometimes humble and poorly clothed, or smart and dressed to the nines, sometimes unpretentious and respectable, or fashionable and seductive.

Disadvantage

For modern researchers there is a considerable disadvantage connected with the popularity and practical value of almanacs and calendars. After the passing of a year most copies were thrown away or, as was customary in China, taken to a temple to be burnt by the monks. What remains is but a fraction of the millions of specimens that once must have existed.

Almanacs in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek

The KB owns one of the largest collections of almanacs and calendars in the Netherlands. Only the university libraries of Leiden and Amsterdam have more extensive collections. Anyone who goes searching in the KB catalogue will quickly find a few thousand titles, with tens of thousands of individual volumes.

The largest group consists of nineteenth-century almanacs. This is not only because of their great popularity at that time, but also because the KB was not established until 1798. Contemporary almanacs were easier to collect than historical ones. Since 1974, many almanacs have come to the KB because publishers donate them on behalf of the Deposit Library of Dutch Publications.

As far as foreign almanacs are concerned, the French are by far in the majority. These specimens are among the most beautiful in the collection. The other foreign almanacs are West European for the most part. Exceptions are specimens from countries such as Switzerland, Slovakia, South Africa and Hawaii. How and why these books ended up at the KB is in many cases no longer known.  

The future

As organizers of the exhibition Tijd gebonden:Almanacs and calendars of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek and of the accompanying book and web exhibition we have had to make a clear choice. We have chosen 25 for this book, not only because as editions they are worthwhile but also because they are exemplary; together they provide us with a picture of the Dutch almanac's developmental history from the Middle Ages through the nineteenth century. The years for which these almanacs were designed are sometimes centuries in the past, but by entering the spotlight once again they have taken on a brand new existence. The Renaissance of the almanac has definitely begun.

Apeldoorn/The Hague, November 2000

About the authors

  • Marco de Niet (1962) studied Dutch language and literature. He was a member of the academic staff of the Research & Development department of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek.
  • Frederik Schreuder (1952) is a general practitioner. He is a collector of almanacs with a special interest in chronology and book history.