Next message: Paul White: "Re: Almanac Heaven: where Alamancs go to die"
Robert asked:
"If people are buying used Nautical Almanacs on e-bay, what are they using
them for?"
At three bucks (sometimes much less) plus a couple for shipping, could be
almost anything. Doug Royer mentioned nautical decor, and that's a big one. It
sounds like you've been keeping yours in good condition so you might be able
to sell them at a premium for their decorative value. There are also people
who collect "Navy stuff" and the official N.A.'s fit that category. Another
small market is for people who have some sentimental attachment for the
specific year.
Myself, I have been collecting together a few almanacs from each 25 year
period and from various re-publishers so that I can better understand the tools
of the trade available historically (without schlepping to the library every
time). For example, when we were talking about those time sights in that
logbook from 1896-97, it was nice to be able to pull an "American Nautical
Almanac" from 1890 off the shelf and verify that the Sun declinations are accurate
to the nearest arcsecond (compared with accurate modern calculations for that
era) which made it clear that the recorded declinations were taken from the
table for Greenwich *Apparent* Noon rather than Mean Noon. It's a small
discovery but a fun one, and I wouldn't have made it without an old almanac in
hand.
-FER
42.0N 87.7W, or 41.4N 72.1W.
www.HistoricalAtlas.com/lunars
