Neuer Berner Kalender

I have read much of Jeremias Gotthelf's writings--all of the novels, many of the novellas and short stories.  But I had never read his "Kalender" before.  Until now.

For six years, from 1839 to 1845, Gotthelf edited the Neuer Berner Kalender, the "New Bernese Almanac."  "Kalender" looks like "calendar," but in fact it is what we would probably call an almanac, in the sense of the Old Farmer's Almanac that you may have seen in grocery stores or magazines racks each year.  The almanac was some of the primary reading material for rural households, many of which might have contained only two things to read: a Bible, and an almanac.

For these yearly almanacs, Gotthelf wrote a motley assortment of texts: month-by-month accounts of the weather and news from the previous year, reflections on different Christian virtues that sound more like sermons, political and social satires, short stories, even shorter anecdotes of one sort or another, all with a general ethical and instructive purpose.  Some of the stories are quite good, others less so; some are very funny; and some of the material is tough to follow without a detailed set of editorial notes explaining context and references (which I expect appears in the new, currently in progress, historical-critical edition of Gotthelf's works... much too expensive, alas, for yours truly).

I read all six of the almanacs that Gotthelf edited, before he stopped this particular project after some disagreements with his publisher, who was disappointed by the sales figures.  About 700 pages in all.  At their best, the stories and other pieces provide a nice glimpse into his political and religious ideas, as he reacts not only against local Swiss events but also broader European trends such as the aftermath of the French Revolution or the growth of communism.