Jensen P. Astrology, Almanacs, and the Early Modern English Calendar

London: Routledge, 2022. — 363 p.Astrology, Almanacs, and the Early Modern English Calendar is a handbook designed to help modern readers unlock the vast cultural, religious, and scientific material contained in early modern calendars and almanacs. It outlines the basic cosmological, astrological, and medical theories that undergirded calendars, traces the medieval evolution of the calendar into its early modern format against the background of the English Reformation, and presents a history of the English almanac in the context of the rise of the printing industry in England. The book includes a primer on deciphering early modern printed almanacs, as well as an illustrated guide to the rich visual and verbal iconography of seasons, months, and days of the week, gathered from material culture, farming manuals, almanacs, and continental prints. As a practical guide to English calendars and the social, mathematical, and scientific practices that inform them, Astrology, Almanacs,and the Early Modern English Calendar is an indispensable tool for historians, cultural critics, and literary scholars working with the primary material of the period, especially those with interests in astrology, popular science, popular print, the book as material artifact, and the history of time-reckoning.List of Figures
Foreward
AcknowledgementsBackgrounds
Astrology
Ptolemaic Judicial Astrology
Astrological Medicine
Lunar Prognostications
Egyptian Days
Brontologies
Esdras or Dominical Letter Prognostications
Calendars
The Julian Calendar
The Compotus
Late Medieval Calendars and the Folded Almanac
Calendars in Print: Pre-Reformation Primers
Calendars in Print: Prayer Book Calendars, the Reformation, and the Saints
The Gregorian Reforms
Clog Almanacs and Xylographic Calendars
Almanacs and Prognostications
Multi-year Almanacs
Single Sheet Imported Almanacs
Annual Prognostications
Annual Book form Almanacs and Prognostications, 1540–1571
The Watkins and Roberts Monopoly, 1571–1603
The English Stock, 1603–1640
The University Press Almanacs
Related Publications and Controversies
Perpetual Almanacs
Astrological Guides
Controversies
Mock Almanacs
Colour Plate Section Appears between Pages 94 and 95
How to Read an Early Modern Almanac
The Almanac
Physical Format
Rubrication
Title Pages
Images and Borders
Title and Year
Compilers
Leap Year, Meridian, and Pole Arctic
Epigraphs
Printers and Privileges
Declarations
Law Terms
Chronologies
Zodiac Man
Elections
The Calendar
The Prognostication
Title Page
To the Reader
Calculating Prognostications
Formatting Prognostications
Revolutions and the Four Seasons
Eclipses
Monthly Prognostications
Additional Astronomical and Astrological Content
Planet and Star Tables
Planetary Hours
Additional Miscellaneous Content
Principal Fairs
Calendar History
Travel and Geography
Tide Tables
Itineraries, Rhombs, and Latitude
Catalogues of Shires and Choreographies
Measurement
Advertisements
Early Modern Calendars
The Four SeasonsSpring
Astronomy and Astrology
Allegory
Pastimes, Activities, and Labors
Complexion, Qualities, and Disease
Summer
Astronomy and Astrology
Allegory
Pastimes, Activities, and Labors
Complexion, Qualities, and Disease
Autumn
Astronomy and Astrology
Allegory
Pastimes, Activities, and Labors
Complexion, Qualities, and Disease
Winter
Astronomy and Astrology
Allegory
Pastimes, Activities, and Labors
Complexion, Qualities, Weather and Disease
The Planets and Seven Days of the WeekSunday: The Sun
Monday: The Moon
Tuesday: Mars
Wednesday: Mercury
Thursday: Jupiter
Friday: Venus
Saturday: Saturn
Colour Plate Section Appears between Pages 178 and 179
The Twelve MonthsLabors and Agricultural Tasks
Zodiac, Astronomy, and Astrology
The Ages of Man
Physic
The Church Calendar
Fairs
Law Terms
Festive Traditions and Pastimes
The Saints in the Calendar
January
Labors and Agricultural Tasks
Zodiac, Astronomy, and Astrology
The Ages of Man
Physic
The Church Calendar
Fairs
Law Terms
Festive Traditions and Pastimes
February
Labors and Agricultural Tasks
Zodiac, Astronomy, and Astrology
The Ages of Man
Physic
The Church Calendar
Fairs
Law Terms
Festive Traditions and Pastimes
March
Labors and Agricultural Tasks
Zodiac, Astronomy, and Astrology
The Ages of Man
Physic
The Church Calendar
Fairs
Law Terms
Festive Traditions and Pastimes
April
Labors and Agricultural Tasks
Zodiac, Astronomy, and Astrology
The Ages of Man
Physic
The Church Calendar
Fairs
Law Terms
Festive Traditions and Pastimes
May
Labors and Agricultural Tasks
Zodiac, Astronomy, and Astrology
The Ages of Man
Physic
The Church Calendar
Fairs
Law Terms
Festive Traditions and Pastimes
June
Labors and Agricultural Tasks
Zodiac, Astronomy, and Astrology
The Ages of Man
Physic
The Church Calendar
Fairs
Law Terms
Festive Traditions and Pastimes
July
Labors and Agricultural Tasks
Zodiac, Astronomy, and Astrology
The Ages of Man
Physic
Church Calendar
Fairs
Law Terms
Festive Traditions and Pastimes
August
Labors and Agricultural Tasks
Zodiac, Astronomy, and Astrology
The ages of Man
Physic
The Church Calendar
Fairs
Law Terms
Festive Traditions and Pastimes
September
Labors and Agricultural Tasks
Zodiac, Astronomy, and Astrology
The Ages of Man
Physic
The Church Calendar
Fairs
Law Terms
Festive Traditions and Pastimes
October
Labors and Agricultural Tasks
Zodiac, Astronomy, and Astrology
The ages of Man
Physic
The Church Calendar
Fairs
Law Terms
Festive Traditions and Pastimes
November
Labors and Agricultural Tasks
Zodiac, Astronomy, and Astrology
The Ages of Man
Physic
The Church Calendar
Fairs
Law Terms
Festive Traditions and Pastimes
December
Labors and Agricultural Tasks
Zodiac, Astronomy, and Astrology
The Ages of Man
Physic
The Church Calendar
Fairs
Law Terms
Festive Traditions and Pastimes
Sample Calendars, 1518–1640
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
DecemberPrimary Bibliography
Secondary Bibliography
Index of Saints and Holy Days