Incunable almanacs and practica as practical knowledge produced in trading zones

Abstract

This paper traces the development of practical knowledge in early modern astronomy and astrology by considering two literary genres apparently born in the fifteenth-century print shop, the annual broadside almanac and the annual multi-leaved practica. Taken together nearly 1000 editions printed before 1500 are extant, written in Latin or several vernacular languages. These texts combine astronomical, computistic, astrological and medical material. Examination of the term "practica" as an actors' category, of the social locations of more than one hundred authors named on the imprints, and of the content of these texts suggests that this pragmatic literature arose in sites Pamela O. Long has called trading zones. Exemplified by the early modern arsenal, mine, princely court, or print shop, these zones enabled artisans and scholars to exchange expertise and experience. The resulting almanacs and practica offered readers timely information about the church calendar, astronomical phenomena, and medical and astrological prospects for the coming year.