The Nautical Almanac, Part 1, and the Abridged Nautical Almanac

During the late nineteenth century, the Nautical Almanac Office concluded that the 'Nautical Almanac' contained much information that was of little relevance to the practical navigator. As a consequence, from 1896 onwards, Part I, containing the navigational data, was published as a separate volume. In 1914 this publication became the 'Nautical Almanac, Abridged for the Use of Seamen', which was specially designed for navigation. Alterations were made to the series in 1929, and again in 1952, when it was renamed the 'Abridged Nautical Almanac'. From 1958 the publication was produced jointly with the Nautical Almanac Office, United States Naval Observatory. In 1960 it reverted to the original title of the 'Nautical Almanac'.

RGO 104 contains the complete series of the 'Nautical Almanac, Part 1' and the 'Abridged Nautical Almanac' for the years 1896 to 1959, printed by H.M. Stationery Office, London/Edinburgh.

The volumes were formerly the property of H.M. Nautical Almanac Office, with the exception of several duplicates belonging to the Royal Geographical Society, London, which are identified in the catalogue.

Please cite as Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives, The Nautical Almanac, Part 1, and the Abridged Nautical Almanac, RGO 104

The editions of this series from its reversion to the title 'Nautical Almanac' in 1960 can be found in RGO 180. Editions of the 'Nautical Almanac' for 1767-1959 (containing the contents of Parts I and II) can be found in RGO 28.

Indexed

This description was created by Robert Steiner, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives. The publication's history was compiled with reference to the website of H.M. Nautical Almanac Office (http://www.nao.rl.ac.uk/nao/history/).