Leavitt's Old Farmer's Almanack - 1858 (USA)

$20.00 CAD

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Scarce pre-Civil War pamphlet that give insight into life in those days.         

Nice graphic on yellow cover wrapper with farm animals:

Leavitt's Old Farmer's Almanack, 1858
         
Sold J.F Dani(els Franklin N.H.)
Booksell........... 

 

Main title page:

                                          NO. LXII
Leavitt's Old Farmer's Almanack, and miscellaneous Year Book,
                                 for the year of Our Lord
                                           1858
Containing, with the more than useful Astronomical Calculations, a larger quantity and greater variety that are to be found in any other Almanack  of Matter, Useful, Curious and Entertaining

Nice graphic on front title page relating to Time. Inside front cover has zodiac engraving.

Topics include:

- seat of state governments, date of elections, times of meeting of legislatures
- celestial phenomena, eclipses,etc..
- monthly calendars with sunrise and sunset, moon changes, high water, predicted weather,etc..
- engraving for each month
- courts (federal and New England states)
- yearly and quarterly meetings of Friends  in New England
- useful receipts and valuable hints (includes recipes e.g. Indian Butter Cakes, Pumpkin pies and    solutions e.g. Worms in Horses,  to fatten poultry, etc..)
- population of the U.S. (including 'Free Colored' and 'Slaves')
- items for the farmer
- remarkable freshet, or deluge, in New England (1826)
- stray thoughts, anecdotes, pleasantries, and rhymes.
- worthless and uncurrent banknotes in New England
- commencement and vacations in the New England colleges and theological schools

 

Advertising for Rollo Books (wrapper- partially missing),The Progressive Series of Readers (Boston) and Music Books (Boston)

Fair condition. Large chunk (1/4 page) missing from wrapper and title page. Cover nicked tears folds, no back wrapper. UR corner creased. Water stain page 3. Some stains inside, occasional tear. Generally something on most pages.

48 pages + wrapper.

7 3/4" X 5".

 

Dudley Leavitt (1772 – September 20, 1851)...Within a few years, Leavitt relocated to Meredith, where in addition to teaching school and farming, he began publishing in 1797 Leavitt's Farmers Almanack, one of the nation's earliest farmers' almanacs. A polymath, Leavitt poured his knowledge of disparate fields including mathematics, language and astronomy into the wildly popular almanacs, which outlived their creator, being published until 1896.

 ...the almanac... became such a success that after a while Leavitt shelved many of his other activities to focus on it. The once-farfetched idea was a runaway hit. By 1846, for instance, Leavitt's almanacs were selling some 60,000 copies for that year's two editions – a tremendous number for the era.

Leavitt aimed the almanacs at the general population of New England, supplying tips on everything from farming to the weather to astronomy. As word spread about the publication, readership jumped, and the publication became a fixture throughout the region. The almanacs were sold at general stores, and later at grocery stores and drug stores.

WIKIPEDIA