Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1838, By CHARLES BOWEN, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. CAMBRIDGE: FOLSOM, WELLS, AND THURSTON, P R E F A СЕ. THE first volume of the American Almanac was published ten years since, for the year 1830; and the one now offered to the public is the 10th in the series. The work was commenced as a doubtful experiment; and, although it has received a good share of the public favor, yet, when the labor and expense of preparing and publishing it are taken into consideration, its success, in a pecuniary point of view, has not been great. But if our labors have been less lucrative than we could reasonably wish, we have, nevertheless, been gratified by the approbation that has been manifested in relation to them; and we trust we may be permitted to cherish the feeling that they have been, in some measure, conducive to the public advantage. As a large part of the contents of the volumes is of permanent value, it has been thought advisable to add to the 10th a General Index for the whole of this series, of such matters as are not common to all or most of the volumes; and those purchasers who have been careful to preserve their copies will, we doubt not, find the Index a convenient appendage. Should the work be continued for many years to come, it may probably be found expedient to add a similar Index to every tenth volume. The opinion, we believe, prevails pretty extensively, that the American Almanac, or some similar work, is needed; and it is to be hoped that the public patronage will be so far extended to it, as to prevent its discontinuance. Should it be published for a long course of years, and be conducted with sufficient care, judgment, and ability, the series of volumes will form a "Repository of Useful Knowledge," of permanent value for constant |