Rare early Thai astronomical printing and description of the 1850 solar eclipse. - J.H. Chandler Union Press Bangkok -1850 Almanac

Siamese almanac for the year commencing with the 1st month in the year 1211 [1850 in the western calendar], and ending with the 12th month in the year 1212 of the Siamese era

-Bangkok: Union Press by John Hassett Chandler

-1850

-Small format (12.5 x 10 cm). Original light tan printed wrappers. PUncut.

-Complete: 52 & [1] pages. Very good condition – light toning to wrappers, faint vertical crease to rear cover; final leaf with short closed tear (~2 cm), without loss.

This 1850 imprint is amongst the first generation of Thai language printing with Western technology. The first known text in Thai script is the Gospel of Matthew, which was printed in Singapore in 1835. The earliest book printed in Thailand itself was a Christian text printed in 1837 which survives in a unique copy. 

This Almanac was printed in Bangkok in 1850 by John Hassett Chandler. John Hassett Chandler was an American Baptist missionary who arrived in Siam in 1843, after first spending a few years in Burma from 1841. He was sent to Siam (Thailand) as a printer and worked at the union press in Bangkok, under the funding of the American Baptist Mission. He was instrumental in the development of Thai typefaces for printing. 

The text for this 1850 almanac is particularly interesting as it includes a very early description of Western astronomy aimed at a Thai reading audience. The description of the mechanism of an eclipse, and the map of route of the upcoming solar eclipse demonstrated Western understanding of the universe. This would have been powerful new information for the local population. We know that King Mongkut (1804-1868) had a deep interest in Western science, and famously accurately predicted the 1868 solar eclipse in Thailand.

The almanac includes a calendar which follows the traditional Siamese (Thai) calendar representing the year 1211–1212 (corresponding to 1850 in Western tradition). Following the calendrical section, the text includes an explanatory description of western, heliocentric astronomy. Images included in the book are a map of the 1850 annular eclipse, a woodcut diagram of the earth orbiting the sun, and woodcut depictions of a total and partial solar eclipse.

All early Thai imprints are rare. OCLC records 3 copies: Yale University Library, American antiquarian society, National Library of Australia.