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A few thoughts on almanac covers and colors...

The modern US Nautical Almanac, as printed by the US government printing service has had a "nautical orange" cover since 1958. Before then its predecessors were generally tan. The covers were heavy cardstock from 1958 through the year 2022. They are now fairly typical "paperback book" covers, heavier than the paper of the pages inside but not especially durable. Still nautical orange!

The modern Astronomical Almanac is a direct descendant of the USNO American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac and the British Nautical Almanac. These were and are references for astronomers, not navigators. Note carefully: the primary resource titled "The Nautical Almanac" (title on the spine) particularly in the first half of the 20th century before the transition to the "Astronomical Almanac" was not at all what we would see as a "nautical almanac" today. It was for astronomers in observatories and not for celestial navigators, nautical only by historical legacy. As printed in the US, the modern Astronomical Almanac has a fine binding in deep blue cloth with gold lettering on the spine like the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac before it. The binding quality is probably partly a reflection of the fact that these volumes were issued to members of the US Congress to park on their office shelves (probably with the original concept that looking up sunrise and sunset times, calendar details, etc. would be relevant to crafting legislation). Is there a British printing of this resource that is less ostentatious?

The "Nautical Almanac: Yachtsmen's Edition" was first printed in 1983, renamed "Commercial Nautical Almanac" in 1993. This is what most American navigators know as the "blue" Nautical Almanac. These blue commercial editions have now been published more than 40 years. The orange government editions have been published for more than 65 years. It's important to note that the commercial editions use licensed content direct from HMNAO (Her/His Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office) which claims copyright in the content. There is absolutely no inferiority to this licensed Commercial Nautical Almanac. It's the real deal. No need to pursue the orange!

The modern British "Nautical Almanac" is also published in paperback with blue covers and has had blue covers for many decades. Internally, the pages, tables, and data are identical to the US Nautical Almanac, but the covers are (partially) blue. So it's not sufficient to ask about the "blue" nautical almanac today. Note that modern editions of the British Nautical Almanac, like many of their publications, feature some attractive astronomical imagery on the blue cover [see attached image].

In recent years various un-official nautical almanac resources have become available especially in digital form but also printed, with no attempt to license any content. While some of these are excellent, others have flaws. With these private nautical almanacs, you need to know and trust the authors and editors. Where do they get their data? Do they know what they're doing?

Frank Reed

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