Language | British English |
---|---|
Subject | General |
Genre | Almanac |
Publisher |
|
Publication date | 1868–2021 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Almanac |
OCLC | 220734304 |
Website | www |
Whitaker's is a reference book, published annually in the United Kingdom. [1] [2] It was originally published by J. Whitaker & Sons from 1868 to 1997, next by HM Stationery Office until 2003 and then by A. & C. Black, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Bloomsbury Publishing in 2011. The publication was acquired by Rebellion Publishing in 2020, [3] with the 153rd edition appearing on 15 April 2021. [4] [5] In mid-2022, Rebellion announced that there would not be a 2022 edition and no further editions have appeared since then. [6]
Joseph Whitaker began preparing his Almanack in the autumn of 1868. [7] He postponed publication of the first edition on learning of the resignation of Benjamin Disraeli on 1 December 1868, so that he could include details of the new Gladstone administration. At the same time, Whitaker continued to expand the information so that the initially planned 329 pages grew to 370. The first edition of the Almanack appeared on 23 December 1868, [8] priced at 1 shilling, introduced by a short editorial piece written by Joseph Whitaker. It began "The Editor does not put forward this Almanack as perfect: yet he ventures to think that he has succeeded in preparing a work which will commend itself to those who desire to see improvement in this direction." It concluded by inviting critics to suggest ways in which improvements could be made. [9]
The Manchester Guardian , reviewing the first edition, described it as "the largest of the cheap almanacks" to appear, and noted it contained a great deal more valuable information than other such works. [10] In 2013, the 2014 edition became the first to be published under the new simpler branding of "Whitaker's". [11]
Whitaker's Almanack consists of articles, lists and tables on a wide range of subjects including education, the peerage, government departments, health and social issues, and the environment. [12]
The largest section is the countries directory, which includes recent history, politics, economic information and culture overviews. [12] Each edition also features a selection of critical essays focusing on events of the previous year. Extensive astronomical data covering the forthcoming year is published at the rear of the book. [12]
Whitaker's was prized enough that Winston Churchill took a personal interest in the continued publication of the book after its headquarters were destroyed in the Blitz. A copy is also sealed in Cleopatra's Needle on the north bank of the River Thames. [13]
Each year the Almanack is published in two formats – the Standard Edition and a shortened Concise Edition. In previous years, a larger-format of the Standard Edition, bound in leather, was produced for libraries. In 2016, Whitaker's launched its online edition through its website, which was updated weekly with free-to-view and subscription only content. [13]
The Almanack's current editor is Michael Rowley. [14]
There have been eleven editors since 1868: [15] [16]
A reference work is a non-fiction work, such as a paper, book or periodical, to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually referred to for particular pieces of information, rather than read beginning to end. The writing style used in these works is informative; the authors avoid opinions and the use of the first person, and emphasize facts.
The World Almanac and Book of Facts is a US-published reference work, an almanac conveying information about such subjects as world changes, tragedies, and sports feats. It has been published yearly from 1868 to 1875, and again every year since 1886.
An almanac is a regularly published listing of a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and other tabular data often arranged according to the calendar. Celestial figures and various statistics are found in almanacs, such as the rising and setting times of the Sun and Moon, dates of eclipses, hours of high and low tides, and religious festivals. The set of events noted in an almanac may be tailored for a specific group of readers, such as farmers, sailors, or astronomers.
Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in New York City, an India publishing office in New Delhi, an Australian sales office in Sydney CBD, and other publishing offices in the UK, including in Oxford. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index.
Rebellion Developments Limited is a British video game developer based in Oxford, England. Founded by Jason and Chris Kingsley in December 1992, the company is best known for its Sniper Elite series and multiple games in the Alien vs. Predator series. Sister company Rebellion Publishing has published comic books since 2000, when it purchased 2000 AD, the publisher of characters such as Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper.
Who's Who is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around the world who influence British life. Entries include notable figures from government, politics, academia, business, sport and the arts. Who's Who 2023 is the 175th edition and includes more than 33,000 people.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, or simply Wisden, colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" has been applied to Wisden since the early 1900s.
Joseph Whitaker was a publisher who founded Whitaker's Almanack.
The Old Farmer's Almanac is an almanac containing weather forecasts, planting charts, astronomical data, recipes, and articles. Topics include gardening, sports, astronomy, folklore, and predictions on trends in fashion, food, home, technology, and living for the coming year. Published every September, The Old Farmer's Almanac has been published continuously since 1792, making it the oldest continuously published periodical in North America. The publication follows in the heritage of American almanacs such as Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard's Almanack.
Old Moore's Almanac is an almanac which has been published for nearly two and a half centuries. Its founder, Theophilus Moore, ran a classical academy at Milltown which was then a village near Dublin. A teacher of Irish, English, Greek and Latin, he became known as a clever mathematician and a wizard of astrology, gaining the nickname 'The Irish Merlin'. He published his Old Moore's Almanac for the first time in 1764, and received such support that the other Irish almanacs gradually dwindled away. Theophilus Moore is now buried in the Drumcondra Churchyard, in Dublin, but the tradition of Old Moore's Almanac continues unbroken to this day.
A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing Who's Who since 1849 and the Encyclopædia Britannica between 1827 and 1903. It offers a wide variety of books in fiction and nonfiction, and has published popular travel guides, novels, and science books.
R. R. Bowker LLC is an American limited liability company domiciled under Delaware Limited Liability Company Law and based in Chatham, New Jersey. Among other things, Bowker provides bibliographic information on published works to the book trade, including publishers, booksellers, libraries, and individuals; its roots in the industry trace back to 1868. Bowker is the exclusive U.S. agent for issuing International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs). Bowker is the publisher of Books in Print and other compilations of information about books and periodical titles. It provides supply chain services and analytical tools to the book publishing industry. Bowker is headquartered in Chatham, New Jersey, with additional operational offices in England and Australia. It is now owned by Cambridge Information Group.
The TIME Almanac was an almanac published in the United States. The almanac was first published in 1947 as the Information Please Almanac by Dan Golenpaul. The name was changed with the 1999 edition when Time magazine bought naming rights to the almanac.
The New York Times Almanac (NYTA) was an almanac published in the United States.
The Arden Shakespeare is a long-running series of scholarly editions of the works of William Shakespeare. It presents fully edited modern-spelling editions of the plays and poems, with lengthy introductions and full commentaries. There have been three distinct series of The Arden Shakespeare over the past century, with the third series commencing in 1995 and concluding in January 2020. The fourth series is scheduled to commence publication in 2025.
The Bookseller is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine and the website. The magazine is home to the Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, a humorous award given annually to the book with the oddest title. The award is organised by The Bookseller's diarist, Horace Bent, and had been administered in recent years by the former deputy editor, Joel Rickett, and former charts editor, Philip Stone. We Love This Book is its quarterly sister consumer website and email newsletter.
Der Fischer Weltalmanach was an almanac, a popular publication of the information issued in Frankfurt on Main, Germany, created at the end of each year since 1959 by a team of Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. In September 2018, the 60th and last edition was published. Due to reduced demand, and the Internet having cheaper options, no further editions are produced.
The Quarto Group is a global illustrated book publishing group founded in 1976. It is domiciled in the United States and listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Stuart Turton is an English author and journalist. His first novel, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (2018) was a bestseller internationally and won a number of awards including the 2018 Costa Book Award for First Novel. His books have sold over one million copies in the US and UK.
The 117th in its series, this volume provides considerable information on British government and society. The complete edition also includes several additional pages that cover such topics as the British Commonwealth of Nations, dependent territories, basic information on foreign countries, the United Nations, sports and the arts, the media, British architecture, science, education, trade unions, and more. Volume contains index.
We acknowledge with thanks the receipt of "Who's Who " and "Whitaker's Almanack ". Both these publications maintain their usual very high standard, though the war has naturally affected them considerably. In "Whitaker's Almanack" the space devoted last year to "The World's Peace" and " Proceedings of the Hague Tribunal " has this year been given up to an account of the origins of "The Great War", which we commend to our readers' attention. We note with approval the omission of the Emperor William's and the Crown Prince's name, with those of other belligerents, from the list of Knights of the Garter