Tensas Gazette

ANCIENT ALMANACS.

Got Rare Volumes and Saw Others of Priceless Value.

Edmund M. Gladden, of Philadelphia, who returned from Europe recently, after making an exhaustive search for ancient almanacs, says he possesses the rarest collection of that form of literature in the world. He owns one of the few original copies of "Poor Richard's Almanac," issued by Benjamin Franklin, and a volume, 4x5 inches, printed on a substance which looks like silk, issued in Spain in 1592 by Don Michael Fernandez y Perez, giving the dates of feast days of the year, with an axiom for each.

Mr. Gladden saw in England the Egyptian almanac, on which the days are written in red ink on papyrus in columns. Under each column are characters signifying the probable state of the weather for that day. It is owned by the British Museum and is the most highly prized almanac in the world.

The almanac collector says the most elaborate almanac in the world is that issued by the Chinese government, which consists of twelve thick volumes. It does not deal with weather probabilities, but gives full information of lucky times and places for performing acts of everyday life. It is relied upon implicitly by the peasant population. The most expensive publication of its character, Mr. Gladden says, is the Nautical Almanac in Great Britain, which costs $20,000 a year, and is directed by a Fellow of the Royal Society.