Florence.
* * * * *
"BOOK OF ALMANACS."
When I published this work, I knew of no predecessor except Francoeur, as
noted in the preface; but another has been recently pointed out to me.
There was a work compiled for the use of the Dominicans, entitled
_Kalendarium Perpetuum juxta ritum Sacri ordinis prædicatorum, s. p. n.
Dominici_. The copy now before me, Rome, 1612, 8vo., is said to be "tertio
emendatum," which probably signifies the fourth edition. It contains the
thirty-five almanacs, with rules for determining epacts and dominical
letters from A.D. 1600 to 2100, and a table for choosing the almanac when
the epact and letter are known.
This work must have been compiled before the reformation of the calendar. A
note in explanation of the thirty-fifth almanac, contains the statement
that A.D. 1736 belongs to that calendar, and to the letters D.C. This is
true of the old style, and not of the new.
It seems, then, that _Books of Almanacs_ are older than the Gregorian
reformation: that they may have been completely forgotten, may be inferred
from my book never having produced any mention of them either in your pages
or elsewhere. Perhaps some older instances may be yet produced.