Royal Almanac

The Royal Almanac was a French administrative directory founded in 1683 by the bookseller Laurent d'Houry, which appeared under this title from 1700 to 1792, and under other titles until 1919.

It presented each year, in the official order of precedence, the list of members of the royal family of France, the princes of blood, and the main body of the kingdom: great crown officers, senior clerics, abbots of large abbeys (with income of each abbey), marshals of France, colonels and general officers, ambassadors and consuls of France, presidents of the main courts, state councilors, bankers, etc..

Despite the fact that it consisted of a series of nominal lists, the publication enjoyed a wide circulation with a readership consisting primarily of financiers, politicians, and all persons who had an interest in knowing the administrative organization of France.

Although its edition was due to the initiative of a private publisher, being included in the lists of the Royal Almanac had an air of legitimacy and abuse were therefore punished. Thus, a Poitevin, Pierre Joly, was interned in the Bastille at the end of the eighteenth century due to having usurped the banking profession by having himself registered as such in the Almanach Royal.

The regular edition was in the 8vo format with a leather publisher's binding adorned with a sprinkling of golden fleur de lys.