Betty Møllers almanak

Resumé

NB: Artiklen er på dansk, kun resuméet er på engelsk. In 2006 the Royal Library bought an almanac that had belonged to Betty Møller (1804-34). It was given to her by her husband, the Danish poet and philosopher Poul Martin Møller (1794-1838) during their stay in Norway where he was professor of philosophy. While the book is an almanac in the usual sense, containing a calendar of months and days, with astronomical data and calculations, ecclestiastical and other anniversaries, Betty Møller also used the blank pages as a kind of personal journal. The article briefly presents the general background, transcribes and comments upon her entries, some of which were written after their return to Denmark in 1831. The personal contents mostly concern her daily life with their small children or record a few major events, for instance the happy feeling when Møller was appointed professor at the University of Copenhagen, since this meant that their life abroad could come to an end. The last long entry, which is highly emotional, she seems to have written shortly before her early death in 1834. She dedicates the almanac to one of her sons, Frederik Møller, called Fritz, whose infancy and early development is the subject of several of the entries and to whom she has copied some short passages from her favourite books for him to read after her death.