The Story of the Almanack
“An email came in to us from a Mr. Moffatt, a rare book dealer from Torquay asking us if we would be interested in a small pocket sized, leather bound Almanack, printed in 1850. Interestingly for us, it had a greetings inscription from Robert Owen to a friend, Mary Allsop.
Naturally my initial reaction was a most definite ”yes” should the almanack prove to be the genuine article. Mr Moffatt suggested sending the Almanack to the museum officers to assess the quality. Mr. Moffatt had done very well to have found us here in Newtown and therefore following an examination in detail the Almanack proved to be much better than we hoped for and a good deal was made with him. This display unit (made in beautiful oak wood) has been made especially for this lovely old item, with the added feature of a digital display having a slide show of selected pages within the Almanac.
This is our first step into the world of modern technology inside our museum and has given us the opportunity for further considerations for greater use of the same in the future, as it allows us to safely display reference material and precious assets and books which might get damaged with continual touch and handling. Although these valuable items are under lock and key, we are using this method to preserve them but display them in public.” Rex Shayler (Chairman)
Rex has made a golden frame for the almanack to sit on. It remains protected behind glass, but requests can be made to examine it (by pre-booked appointment only – contact us). You can view some of the contents on the slideshow provided by the digital photo frame installed by Andy Newham for the museum. (note added by Andy N.)
If you want to read more about the Allsop Almanac, click the following links (incl. bi-lingual version)
About the Almanack (bi-lingual)
