Born on January in either 1705 or 1706, Benjamin Franklin is one of the most well known Founding Fathers in American history. A polymath, Franklin was well known for both his political and scientific contributions to colonial America. Along with these pursuits, he also established the first newspaper chain, the first public library in America, and later became the first American ambassador to France and Sweden.
Rare first edition in French of the Constitution of the United States, inscribed by Franklin.
This first French edition of the Constitution of the United States of America is inscribed by Franklin, who had the translation published and personally distributed each of the 600 copies produced. The recipient, Madame Durey de Meinires was a a French writer best known for her translations of Samuel Johnson, David Hume, and Sarah Fielding. Franklin had 600 copies of Constitutions des Treize Etats-Unis de l’Amerique privately printed by Philippe-Denis Pierres, first printer ordinary of Louis XVI, which were not made available for sale. Franklin distributed them himself, and was happy to fulfill the request of Madame Durey de Meinires, who wished to receive a copy. The book contains the Constitutions of each of the thirteen States of America, the Declaration of Independence of the 4th of July 1776, the Friendship and Commerce Treaty, the Alliance Treaty between France and the United States, as well as the treaties between the United States and the Netherlands and Sweden. The title page contains the first appearance of imprint of the United States seal in a book. Franklin‘s grand gesture in publishing and distributing these constitutions‚ about which there was intense interest and curiosity among statesmen‚ was one of his chief achievements as a propagandist for the new American republic. A truly exceptional piece from the earliest years of the nation.
First edition of Cambridge’s accounts of the Seven Years War in India, from Franklin’s personal library.
As the first United States Ambassador to France, Franklin exemplified the emerging American nation. his contributions to science and politics were immense and his passion for making books more available to a broader audience prompted him to establish North America’s first subscription library. From his own personal library comes this first edition copy of Richard Owen Cambridge’s account of the progression of the Seven Years’ War in India.
Franklin’s private library has a long and complex history and although he was known to have produced a list its contents shortly before his death, it has never been discovered. After his death in 1790, a large portion of his library became the property of his grandson, William Temple Franklin who, upon receiving it, quickly sold it to financier and Signer of the Declaration of Independence Robert Morris. When Morris went bankrupt at the end of the decade, the collection went into the hands of Philadelphia bookseller and former French tutor Nicholas G. Dufief (in 1801), who began offering volumes for sale to the public. In March of 1803 Philadelphia auctioneers Shannon & Poalk sold the library and Philadelphia attorney William Rawle purchased the present volume, inscribing it: “W. Rawle 1803 – bo’t at sale of Dr. Franklin’s library.” Dufief was also known to have compiled a list of the contents of Franklin’s library, but it also has never been recovered. Philadelphia autograph collector Ferdinand J. Dreer obtained this copy and in 1886 and presented it to the Society of the Sons of St. George. Rare and desirable from Franklin’s private library and with noted provenance.
First edition of Franklin’s Experiments and Observations on Electricity made at Philadelphia in America, in the original binding.
The tale of Franklin flying a kite in the midst of a thunderstorm is a momentous occasion in the history of science. Franklin’s own contribution to the field of electricity was substantive, as his own experiments, and his later invention of the lightning rod, indicate. “Franklin’s most important scientific publication,” Experiments and Observations contains detailed accounts of the founding father’s crucial kite and key experiment, his work with Leiden jars, lightning rods and charged clouds (Norman 830). Joseph Priestley, in his History of Electricity, characterized the experimental discovery that the lightning discharge is an electrical phenomenon as ‘the greatest, perhaps, since the time of Isaac Newton… Franklin’s achievement… marked the coming of age of electrical science and the full acceptance of the new field of specialization” (DSB). Franklin’s research is collected in the copy pictured above, a rare first edition of his scientific endeavors.
First edition of Franklin’s Philosophical and Miscellaneous Papers.
Intended by the publisher as a companion volume to the Experiments and Observations on Electricity (1769) and his Political, Miscellaneous and Philosophical Pieces (1779), Franklin’s Philosophical and Miscellaneous Papers contains a selection of important political essays including his Remarks concerning the Savages in North America (1784), The letter from Dr. B. Franklin to Benjamin Vaughan… of Privateering (1785), and Information to those who would remove to America (1784). Also highly notable is Internal State of America, his sharply optimistic postwar reply to “complaints of hard times in the American press… with an equally sharp consciousness of British propaganda” (Crane, William and Mary Quarterly, XV:2, 218). This volume additionally contains three major scientific writings: Description of a New Stove for the burning of Pitcoal (1785), Letter from Dr. B. Franklin to Dr. Ingenhausz [On the Causes and Cure of Smoky Chimneys] (1785), and Letter from Dr. Benjamin Franklin… containing sundry Maritime Observations (1785). A truly desirable piece, reflecting the mature philosophical reflections of an older Franklin.
True first edition of Franklin’s famous autobiography, published in French.
One of Franklin’s most enduring literary contributions is his autobiography. The above copy is a true first edition of Franklin’s famed autobiography, which preceded the first English edition by two years, in the exceedingly scarce original wrappers. In very good condition, this French translation by Jacques Gibelin constitutes the first appearance of any part of Franklin’s autobiography. It covers Franklin’s life until 1731, the year he founded the Library Company of Philadelphia. It was translated into French from one of the two manuscript copies sent to friends in France for further advice, though it was not published until 1791, the year after Franklin’s death. The first English edition, itself a translation from this French edition, did not appear until 1793, after French, German, and Swedish editions had already been published. The work remains the ultimate treatise on man’s ability to better himself, notable for its humorous pragmatism and vivid portrayal of early 18th-century colonial America.
In many ways, Benjamin Franklin represented the heart of early America. In his various roles as statesman, scientist, entrepreneur, and philosopher, he was above all committed to the formation of a free republic through the formation of its citizens and its culture. His whole life, whether at home in Philadelphia or abroad in Europe, was devoted to his country. Rightly so has he earned the title of “The First American.” View our entire collection of rare first editions and documents related to Benjamin Franklin here.
