The Oxford Companion to the Year: An Exploration of Calendar Customs and Time-Reckoning (Hardcover)

~ Bonnie Blackburn (Author), Leofranc Holford-Strevens (Author) "The name Ianuarius is derived from ianua, 'door', and is associated with the two-headed god Janus (see Pl. I); it is therefore apt for the..." (more)
Key Phrases: decemnovenal cycle, calculus astronomicus, same nominal day, Independence Day, Middle Ages, Great Britain (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Oxford Companion to the Year is one of those splendid volumes that should have a permanent place in every personal reference library, next to a well-thumbed Brewer's.

The main body of the book gives a huge amount of historical and folkloric information on every day of the year (including, yes, February 30, which has happened three times); the days of the week, months and seasons; and the major feast days and festivals in a wide variety of different cultures. This is the section that most readers will find the most fascinating; its 658 pages provide endless browsing.

The second part concentrates on the making of calendars over the centuries: how our own complex calendar evolved with its irregular month lengths and its rules for when leap years occur, plus details of the calendars of many other cultures--Chinese, Hindu, Muslim, and many more--all trying to find a regular system that can cope with the fact that the roughly 29-and-one-half-day lunar month and the roughly 365-and-one-quarter-day solar year simply can't be meshed.

Bonnie Blackburn and Leofranc Holford-Strevens must be congratulated on the huge amount of work this book must have taken, and on such splendid results. --David V. Barrett, Amazon.co.uk

From Library Journal

Blackburn (Music, Oxford Univ.) and Holford-Strevens (Aulus Gellius) have produced an interesting reference work that can be seen as a modern version of the medieval Book of Days. Recognizing the significance that the recording of time has had for almost all known cultures, they set out to explain the origins of calendar construction, taking care to examine the significance of each day of the year. The book is divided into two parts. "Part I: Calendar Customs" is a day-by-day guide to the year as organized by the Western calendar. Here, the authors explicate the peculiar attributes each day of the year has acquired. "Part II: Calendars and Chronology" is an in-depth study of how time has been organized over the ages. The authors explain more than 18 calendar systems from Anglo-Saxon to Zoroastrian and also include tables for converting dates from one calendar system to another. This work should appeal to browsers and researchers alike and would be a useful resource for academic as well as public libraries. Recommended for both.
-Robert James Andrews, Duluth P.L., MN
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 937 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (December 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192142313
• ISBN-13: 978-0192142313
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.6 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #650,501 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute treasure chest!, January 1, 2000

By A Customer

More than just a scholarly reference, this mind-bogglingly comprehensive book is masterfully written and offers something for everyone. From the historical significance and traditions of each day of the year to the calendars and time-reckoning systems used all over the world throughout history, the Oxford Companion to the Year is chock-full of obscure bits of history, poems, quotations, and illustrations. Absolutely fascinating reading--a must-have for the new millennium!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most thorough calender reference available, April 11, 2003

By	David Graham (Shell, Ecuador) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This 937 page reference work of calendar customs and time-reckoning is a modern day version of Robert Chambers's "Book of Days" (1864), and is now surely THE definitive reference work on the subject. For every day of the year (including February 30, which has been observed three times in past calendars, once in Sweden and twice in the Soviet Union), there is a listing of the date (e.g., 25 Abril), the Roman date (e.g., a.d. VII Kalendas Maias), a list of Holidays and Anniversaries (e.g., Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga: ANZAC Day) or Holy Days (e.g., Mark the Evangelist) or perhaps something from Ancient Rome (e.g., "On this day was held the ceremony for keeping rust off crops, the Robigalia,"). Moreover, there are usually one or two paragraphs given to explain the origins of various holidays or as biographical background. Sometimes poems or literary excerpts are inserted to further enliven the entry. Additionally, a generous amount of humor and bonhomie are sprinkled throughout the text.

Other calendar customs such as the moveable feasts of the western church year, days of the week, Red-Letter days, Dog Days, terms at Oxford or Cambridge, Handsel Monday, Thanksgiving, or the Lord Mayor's Show each have their own entries and explanations. Part II follows, with investigation into calendars and chronology. Here the international scope of the book receives greater exposure, with discussion of the Roman Calendar, Chinese Calendar, Egyptian Calendar, Greek Calendar, Hindu Calendar, Jewish Calendar, Muslim Calendar, Anglo-Saxon Calendar, or Celtic Calendar being some of the many discussed. Explanations of the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars, calculating the date of Easter, use of symbolic calendars, as well as many other topics round out a thoroughly researched section.

My only demurring remark about this excellent book is that sometimes the academic writing can be a little dry and murky, drifting into the pedantic, so that at times I found myself nodding off to sleep. This style of presentation also led to occasional difficulties when trying to understand the discussion at hand. Nevertheless, on the whole, the book is most interesting. A great deal of research obviously went into this wonderfully thorough and accurate reference work. It may be used either as a source for information, or alternatively its daily entries may be read throughout the year as a short daily entertainment. To sum, it is a book well worth obtaining.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great almanac of important days and events, June 22, 2005

By	M. G. SFAELLOU "Platanos" (Greece) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This work is the ultimate reference tool for the calendar. It is divided into two parts. In the first part on Calendar Customs we have a rich but not exhaustive chronology of the days of the year (from pages 1-544) recording historic events which occurred on specific dates as well as notable holidays. This is followed by material covering the seasons, months, days, Western moveable feasts, Orthodox moveable feasts and miscellaneous holidays that were not incorporated in the main chronology, e.g Handsel Monday.
The second part of the work deals with Calendars and Chronology. This section consists of several important world calendars (such as the Hindu, Jewish, Zoroastian and even the French Republican, etc. - yet certain noteworthy calendars like that of the Hopi Indians are absent). There is also information pertaining to the date of Easter, appendices, a glossary, bibliography as well as an index.
There is a great deal of information contained in this volume. However, the authors' main speciality is classics. Whilst reasonable coverage of folk customs is provided, neither of these prestigious authors are folklorists. This is evident from the lack of certain material. For instance, in the analysis of the days of the week (pp. 571-582), while after each day there are a few phrases like Fig Sunday and Mothering Sunday, these phrases could well have been increased. For example, even though there is a reference to Simnel cakes (once brought to one's mother on Mothering Sunday) there is no reference here to Simnel Sunday. Likewise there is no mention of Sugar Cup Sunday, Spanish Sunday or Shaking Sunday (all synonyms of Palm Sunday - the etymologies of which would have made interesting details). Neither is Stir up Sunday recorded (the is the last Sunday before Advent when traditionally Christmas puddings were prepared - 'stirred'). Also excluded are Refreshment Sunday (a synonym of Mothering Sunday)and Peasen Sunday (a synonym of Carling Sunday - yet this latter term is recorded - so called since peas or 'carlings' were eaten). Moreover, there is no mention of Plague Sunday (last Sunday in August) or Pig Face Sunday in Avening, Stroud (after September 14th). Analogous phrases after the other days of the week are similarly unrepresented.
On the subject of the days of ther week, it must be noted that the bibliography does not constitute a complete list of works cited. It is merely a collection of published works suggested for further reading. On the whole the text is not annotated and the bibliography does not include all the important articles which have provided the authors with information for this work. For instance, on p. 577 with reference to Tuesday, the authors are correct in observing that in Greece this day not Friday is the unlucky day. This point is followed by an obscure allusion to Digenes Akritas which is only marginally of relevance. The only English-language source of this association (though not acknowledged in the text or bibliography) is a brief article taken from 'FLS News' (newsletter of the English Folklore Society) about 'Tuesday (not Friday) the Thirteenth'(FLS News, No. 21, June 1995). This article should have been cited since it was obviously used ; and in the rare event that this information was taken directly from Greek-language sources (e.g. the folklore journal 'Laographia'), then if this were the case such a reference is likewise missing in the bibliography.
In a work of such mammoth proportions compiled by just two (rather than a whole team of) distinguished authors, it is inevitable that a certain amount of pertinent material has been excluded or overlooked. Nevertheless I still give this work a five-star rating and (until it is reprinted in larger improved editions)this will still remain the best (or rather only) work of its kind.