Rider's (1726) British Merlin; Adorned with many delightful Varieties and Useful Verities, for the Year of our Lord God, 1726

London: E. and R. Nutt / Company of Stationers, 1726. 32mo, 5 x 2 7/8 in. (127 x 78 mm). Maroon morocco with elaborately gilt covers and spine, of the two metal clasps only one half is present; marbled endpapers, a.e.g.; covers and hinges worn and somwhat cracked, notations in brown ink, dated 1726 and 1727, on the first two of 13 blank sheets at the beginning of the book; blank sheets also interspersed between months and at the back of the book for notations, some scribbled in brown ink; custom stamps to title-page.

The title page also reads: It being the second after Bissextile or Leap-Year; Fitted for all Capacities within the Islands of Great Britain and Ireland. Also Chronological Observations of Principal Use, with Notes of Husbandry and Physick, Fairs and Marts. Also Directions and Tables for Many good Purposes. Made and compiled for his Country's Benefit, By Cardanus Rider.

[ESTC T171165]. Rider's British Merlin was a pioneering and popular almanac, first printed in 1656 and then through 1830. The name of its author, Cardanus Rider, is a pseudonym for Richard Saunders (1613 -1687?), a physician and astrologer who began publishing his calendar records, weather patterns, and astronomical data during the 17th century. The pseudonym Cardanus Rider appears to be an anagram, if you rearrange the letters you have Ric_ard Saunder_.
Published consistently until the mid-19th-century, including this 1726 issue, it was the inspiration for Benjamin Franklin's POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. Franklin published them under the pseudonym Richard Saunders(!) and included not only serious and practical information but also jokes and hoaxes. It was a bestseller in the American colonies and printed up to 10,000 copies per year, bringing wealth to Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack was so popular that Napoleon ordered it translated into Italian and later it was also translated into French.

"The name Cardanus is a reference to the mathematician and astrologer Gerolamo Cardano. He is well known for his scientific career and the first use of negative numbers. Along with his accomplishments in the mathematics, he spent much of his life as a physician and working on the sciences. It would make sense for an almanac, that has information about science and medicine, to have a reference to a prominent polymath." (Michigan State University, Rare Books and Special Collections, XX AY751 .R54 1726)

ALMANACS typically contained a calendar of the year along with a record of various astronomical phenomena such as data on phases of the moon and schedules of high and low tides; other miscellaneous information such as weather predictions and seasonal suggestions for farmers is often provided. Such handbooks were incredibly popular and proved to be bestsellers from the earliest days of printing. They remained popular and acted as portable compendiums of instructive and useful information for a wide range of needs: they were printed quite cheaply, though often bound elegantly, and were used by a every social group.

This 1726 Merlin was obviously an object of personal daily use as evidenced by the wear to the clasps and the annotations on blank pages registering three tuition payments for two boys in 1726-27. Monthly calendar pages, with saint days, astrological passages and tides, predicted weather conditions, health indications, a blank leaf (some with scribbles in ink), followed by Observations on each month. The calendar is followed by a plethora of curiosities and information including an engraving of the "Anatomy of Man's body" where body parts correspond to zodiac signs; Eclipeses of the year 1726, Beer Measures, Ale Measures; a chronology of the most important events from creation (5675 years ago) to the Building of London, of Rome (2478), the Great Plague, Peace with France, crowning of kings and queens, all the way to 1726; followed by a table of kings, table of interest at 5%, Distances on high-ways in England and Wales and dates and locations of important fairs.