''Samuel Marchbanks' Almanack'', published by

McClelland and Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Random House of Canada, Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, is the third and last of the Samuel Marchbanks books by Canadian novelist and journalist

Robertson Davies William Robertson Davies (28 August 1913 – 2 December 1995) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best known and most popular authors and one of its most distinguished " men of letters" ...

. The other two books in this series are '' The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks'' (

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

) and ''

The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks ''The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks'', published by Clarke Irwin in 1949, is the second of the Samuel Marchbanks books by Canadian novelist and journalist Robertson Davies. The other two books in this series are '' The Diary of Samuel Marchban ...

'' (

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

). Davies' writings as Samuel Marchbanks were also collected in a one-volume edition, ''

The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks ''The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks'', published by Irwin in 1985, constitutes a collection of the writings of Samuel Marchbanks, a character created in 1944 by Canadian novelist and journalist Robertson Davies when he was editor of the ''Peterbor ...

'' in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Background

Davies created the

Samuel Marchbanks Samuel Marchbanks is a fictional character who wrote editorials for the '' Peterborough Examiner'' newspaper in the small city of Peterborough, Ontario, northeast of Toronto, during the middle of the 20th century. Marchbanks was, in fact, a pseud ...

character whilst editor of the '' Peterborough Examiner'' newspaper in the small city of

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

, northeast of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. He wrote the first column under the Marchbanks pseudonym in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

. Davies first started work on ''Samuel Marchbanks' Almanack'' in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

, but the manuscript was rejected by his publisher, Clarke Irwin. Davies filed the rejected manuscript away, not to return to it for a decade. He resubmitted it for publication in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, this time choosing McClelland and Stewart as the prospective publisher. The book is presented in the form of an almanac, based on the signs of the

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...

. {{Robertson Davies Short story collections by Robertson Davies 1967 short story collections McClelland & Stewart books