January, 2026

Almanacs, early calendars, have a centuries-long history.   We have one dated 1656 in excellent condition, despite the frequent use that these publications would have had in a household.

This work was made by the most important astrologer in England at the time, William Lilly. who published almanacs between 1647 and 1682, giving astrological tables for the year along with more useful monthly weather predictions and lunar and planetary tables, all tossed in with more fanciful notes. 

 

They were often substantial, books published by newspaper and magazines, or any printer with an eye to a public eager for information not only on the weather, tides and important calendar dates, but also gardening and agricultural diaries, commercial directories, Government information, shipping and ports, advertisements, and anything that might be deemed useful.

 

In 1870 Edward Wayte, a pioneer Auckland stationer and bookseller, issued The Auckland Almanac and Gold Field's Annual, which included several ages of descriptions of the newsworthy Thames goldfields, proving to be a valuable and entertaining social history resource.

Also an earlier Otago Almanac from 1859, at the time when Otago was on the brink of being the premier NZ province with the goldrush of the early 1860s. Both extremely rare ephemeral items