Author: JAMAICA ALMANACK.
Title: The New Jamaica Almanack, and Register, Calculated to the Meridian of the Island, For the Year or our Lord 1802. (Being the Sixth after Bissextile, or Leap Year.
Description: Kingston: Printed by Stevenson and Aikman, [1802] 12mo (in 6s), 149 x 92 mms. pp. [iv], 189 [190 - 191 continuation of Index, 192 note and errata, 193- 204 tables, followed by lower corner of one leaf, followed by 11 leaves of notes mostly in pencil, and mostly of names, with occasional sums and calculations, bound in contemporary wallet style sheepskin, with gilt borders on covers, and the name in purple ink of "William Bowyer/ Woollard/ 1887/ June 8," with more purple ink on the title-page and on the verso of the preceding leaf. One of the publishers, William Aikman fled from America during the 1776 Revolution and set up business with another refugee, David Douglass. Thomas Stevenson joined the firm in 1796. One of the most striking features of their almanacs was the use of Hebrew type, page 15 being a "Kalendar Of Months, Sabbaths, and Holidays, which the Hebrews or Jews observed and keep, for the years 5562 and 5563 of the Creation." Aikman and Douglass began incorporating details about Jewish worship from the beginning their partnership. Almost as striking is the number of Masonic lodges to be found in Jamaica, with 18 listed on page 178; the first Lodge was instituted in 1738. The most interesting feature of this almanac is, however, the large number of names recorded in pencil on the blank leaves at the end of the volume. "Mingo" was for example a common name given to slaves, as well as "Sambo," both of which appear in pencil on one of the leaves. The literature on slave names in the West Indies is vast, and an experienced scholar or genealogist would probably find much documentary detail about slaves in the West Indies in the early 19th century. Parliament abolished the slave trade in the British Empire in 1807 (slavery itself was not abolished until 1833). As for the provenance, I would assume that the 1887 ownership is that of a William Bowyer who lived in Woollard in the Chew Valley in England. However, Woollard also appears in England as a surname. The handwriting appears to be that of a juvenile. The William Bowyer(s) known to most booksellers are the two William Bowyers, father (1663 – 1737) and his son (1699 – 1777). A creative bookseller or scholar could doubtless find a connection between the 19th century owner of the 1802 Jamaica Almanack and the distinguished 18th century printers. The only copy that I have located is in the New York Historical Archives; this copy is described as "186, [12] pages, [1] folded leaf of plates : map ; imperfect: missing p. 5-8. Mss. notations throughout."

Keywords: almanac Jamaica prose


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