Introduction"It was in the home that most books were used, and the most common was certainly the almanac, often hung by a string somewhere in the kitchen. Although religious, agricultural, medical or simply general information made up the majority of the text, it was the calendar pages that were the most used. Interleaved with blank pages and later lined pages for notes, almanacs became daily journals. Nineteenth-century Canadians did not use the almanac to plan ahead, as the agenda is used today, but wrote what they did and when: almanacs recorded family histories, planting of crops, social events, letters sent, sales made and, of course, the weather. For those who used only the calendar pages, sheet almanacs or broadside calendars were published, showing all the information for the year on one sheet. They were the ancestors of our wall calendars."(Michel Brisebois. Impressions: 250 Years of Printing in the Lives of Canadians. Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1999) This listing of selected almanacs in Library and Archives Canada collection will assist historians in chronicling the development of almanacs in Canada and will aid bibliographers in their work. It will also serve as a tool for researchers investigating Canadian social history in particular locations and time periods. ScopeThe list includes titles of Canadian almanacs published before 1900 that are located in Library and Archives Canada Rare Book Collection, Preservation Collection and General Collection. Some of these pre-1900 almanacs came to the National Library of Canada from the National Archives of Canada. The list also includes some titles of Canadian almanacs published after 1900 that were transferred to the Library from the Archives.Please note that Library and Archives Canada holds many other almanac titles and issues that are not included in this finding aid. Detailed information on these titles can be found by searching Library and Archives Canada online catalogue, Amicus. Sample entry:
Please consult Library and Archives Canada online catalogue, resAnet for more detailed information on the number of copies that the Library holds of particular almanac issues, and for the call number of each copy.
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