~ Schott’s Almanacs ~
Schott’s Almanac was launched in Autumn 2005 as “the very model of a modern, major almanac.”
In contrast to some of its venerable forerunners in the field, Schott’s Almanac was designed to be a practical and entertaining annual volume, providing an intelligent analysis of the year’s events while giving a true sense of the year just ending and the year ahead – from the winner of “I’m a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here!,” to the distribution of income across the social divide.
The Almanac’s motto …
Liber Praeteritorum Et Posteritatis Carmen
translates as:
The Book of Things Past and the Song of the Future
Schott’s Almanac represented a significant, though evolutionary departure from the Miscellanies. It had a more structured content, which was divided into logically signposted sections.
· Chronicle (The events of the year, day by day…)
· The World (The four corners, the three worlds, the seven seas…)
· Society & Health (From cradle to grave, and everything in between…)
· Media & Celebrity (From the Big Brother house to the craze of Sudoku…)
· Sci, Tech, Net (The scientific and technological year dissected…)
· Music & Cinema (Pop, classical, Hollywood, and art-house…)
· Books & Arts (Bestsellers, theatre, fashion, events, and exhibitions…)
· Travel & Leisure (Planes, trains, automobiles, and the rest…)
· Money (Personal finance, from pay-day to Tax Freedom Day…)
· Parliament & Politics (The facts and figures behind the spin…)
· Establishment & Faith (Royalty, nobility, military, and belief…)
· Sport (Sporting endeavour and achievement…)
· Ephemerides (Key calendar dates and miscellany for the year ahead…)
Nonetheless, it was hoped that any fan of the Miscellanies, would feel immediately at home in the pages of the Almanac.
“A record of historic reference.”
— The Guardian
“A social barometer of genuine historical value.”
— The Sunday Times
“Genuine practical value … elegantly designed … a vast [collection] of informational flotsam and jetsam.”
— The New York Times
“Schott’s Almanac is a time-capsule of a book that will, I suspect, grow even more interesting as the years roll on. Schott proves himself very sharp at judging the zeitgeist … Schott is to be applauded.”
— The Mail on Sunday
“Schott, the veritable god of small things, captures the kaleidoscopic spirit and the ephemeral essence of the year.”
— Vogue (Germany)
“Schott hits the spot.”
— Evening Standard
“A wonderful achievement.”
— The New Statesman
“A time capsule … brimming with verve.”
— The Christian Science Monitor
Schott’s Almanac ran in Britain for six editions (2006–2011), and in both America and German for three editions (2007–2009). Because of the very country-specific nature of the material, a good three-quarters of the content was different from country to country. And, because both the news and many of the statistics needed to be constantly updated, each country volume contained about four-fifth’s new material each year. (Of course, the German Almanac was in German.)
For every edition, the scraperboard cover art was by Alison Lang, and the pointillism portraits and illustrations were by Chris Lyon.
Below is an overview of the British Almanac from 2006–2011, indicating the Person of the Year, the Object of the Year, and the Substance of the Year.