Almanacs: Astrology and Popular Protestantism

Abstract By one crude definition, almanacs unarguably constitute a significant part of popular culture in The eighteenth century: They were consistently The best-selling publications of The period. Their popularity was such that They naturally claim a place in this hook. At The end of The seventeenth century, over 400,000 almanacs were being sold annually under The monopoly of The Stationers’ Company. No oTher printed matter could compete with These sales figures. Successful individual almanacs like those of Gadbury and Partridge had print runs of some 20,000. Through The first half of The eighteenth century, overall sales figures remained at about this level, although They were less evenly distributed between different titles; Moore’s Vox Stellarum became The dominant almanac, and by The 1760s had ten times The sales of its nearest rival. Simply put, what These numbers mean-given multiple readership and The possibility that some parts of almanacs might be read to those who were not fully literate-is that a large proportion of The population will have used almanacs and been open to Their shaping influences.