1706. Benjamin Franklin born in Boston, January 17 (January 6, 1705, O. S.).
1714-16. After a year in Boston Grammar School is sent to learn writing and arithmetic in school kept by George Brownell, from which, after a year, he is taken to assist his father, Josiah, a candlemaker.
1717. James Franklin returns from England, following apprenticeship as printer.
1718. Benjamin is apprenticed to brother James.
1718-23. Period of assiduous reading in Anthony Collins, Shaftesbury, Locke, Addison and Steele, Cotton Mather, Bunyan, Defoe, etc.
1719. Writes and hawks ballads of the "Grub-Street" style, "The Lighthouse Tragedy" and "The Taking of Teach the Pirate."
1721-23. Aids brother in publishing theNew England Courant. During 1722-23 in charge of paper after James is declared objectionable by the authorities.
1722. HisDogood Papersprinted anonymously in theNew England Courant.
1723. Breaks his indentures and leaves for New York; eventually arrives in Philadelphia.
1723-24. Employed by Samuel Keimer, a printer in Philadelphia.
1724. Visits Cotton Mather and Governor Burnet (New York). Meets James Ralph, Grub-Street pamphleteer, historian, and poet in the Thomson tradition. Patronized by Governor Keith. Leaves for London in November on theLondon-Hopeto buy type, etc., for printing shop to be set up in his behalf by Keith. Upon arrival he and Ralph take lodgings in Little Britain.
1725-26. Employed in Palmer's and Watts's printing houses.
1725. PublishesA Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain. One result of this is acquaintance with Lyons, author ofThe Infallibility of Human Judgement. Through him Franklin meets Bernard Mandeville and Dr. Henry Pemberton, who is preparing a third edition of Sir Isaac Newton'sPrincipia. Is received by Sir Hans Sloane in Bloomsbury Square. Conceives of setting up a swimming school in London.
1726. On July 21, with Mr. Denham, merchant and Quaker, leaves for Philadelphia on theBerkshire. Between July 22 and October 11 writesJournal of a Voyage from London to Philadelphia. Employed by Denham until latter's death in 1727.
1727. Ill of pleurisy and composes his epitaph. After recovery returns to Keimer's printing house. Forms his Junto club. Employed in Burlington, New Jersey, on a job of printing paper money.
1728. Forms partnership with Hugh Meredith. WritesArticles of Belief and Acts of Religion, andRules for a Club—his Junto club "Constitution."
1729. Buys Keimer'sThe Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences: and Pennsylvania Gazette(begun December 24, 1728). Changes name toPennsylvania Gazette, first issue, XL, September 25-October 2, 1729. (Published by Franklin until 1748, by Franklin and David Hall from 1748 to 1766, after which Hall, until his death, and others publish it until 1815.) Contributes toAmerican Weekly Mercurysix papers ofThe Busy-Body, February 4, 1729-March 27, 1729. Writes and printsA Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency.
1730. Appointed Public Printer by Pennsylvania Assembly (incumbent until 1764). Partnership with Meredith dissolved. Marries Deborah Read (Mrs. Rogers). Prints inPennsylvania GazettehisDialogues between Philocles and Horatio.
1731. First public venture: founds the Philadelphia Library Company, first subscription library in America. Begins partnership with Thomas Whitemarsh, Charleston, S. C. (1732, publishesSouth Carolina Gazette.) Begins Masonic affiliations: enters St. John's Lodge in February. William Franklin born.
1732. BeginsPoor Richard's Almanack(for 1733). His son Francis Folger Franklin born (dies of smallpox in 1736). Elected junior grand warden of St. John's Lodge.
1733. Begins to study languages, French, Italian, Spanish, and continues Latin.
1734. Elected grand master of Masons of Pennsylvania for 1734-35. Reprints Anderson'sConstitutions, first Masonic book printed in America.
1735. Writes and prints three pamphlets in defense of Rev. Mr. Hemphill. Prints, in thePennsylvania Gazette,Protection of Towns from Fire. Secretary of St. John's Lodge until 1738. Writes introduction for and prints Logan'sCato's Moral Distiches, first classic translated and printed in the colonies.
1736. Establishes the Union Fire Company, the first in Philadelphia. Chosen clerk of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
1737. Appointed postmaster of Philadelphia (incumbent until 1753); also justice of the peace.
1739. Beginning of friendship with the Reverend George Whitefield.
1740. Announces (November 13)The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle.
1741. Six issues (January-June) of this magazine (the first planned and the second issued in the colonies). With J. Parker establishes a printing house in New York.
1742. Invents Franklin open stove.
1743.A Proposal for Promoting Useful Knowledge among the British Plantations in America(circular letter sent to his friends).
1744. Establishes the American Philosophical Society and becomes its first secretary. Daughter Sarah born.An Account of the New Invented Pennsylvanian Fire-places.Writes preface to and prints Logan's translation of Cicero'sCato Major. Reprints Richardson'sPamela. Father dies.
1746.Reflections on Courtship and Marriage, first of his writings reprinted in Europe. Peter Collinson sends a Leyden vial as gift to Library Company of Philadelphia. Having witnessed Dr. Spence's experiments, Franklin now begins his study of electricity.
1747.Plain Truth: or, Serious Considerations on the Present State of the City of Philadelphia, and Province of Pennsylvania.
1748. Withdraws from active service in his printing and bookselling house (Franklin and Hall).Advice to a Young Tradesman.Chosen member of the Council of Philadelphia.
1749. Appointed provincial grand master of colonial Masons (through 1750).Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania.Founds academy which later develops into University of Pennsylvania. Reprints Bolingbroke'sOn the Spirit of Patriotism.
1750. Appointed as one of the commissioners to make treaty with the Indians at Carlisle.
1751.Experiments and Observations on Electricity, made at Philadelphia in America, By Mr. Benjamin Franklin, and Communicated in several Letters to Mr. P. Collinson, of London, F. R. S.(London.)Idea of the English School, Sketch'd out for the Consideration of the Trustees of the Philadelphia Academy.Member of Assembly from Philadelphia (incumbent until 1764).Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, Etc.Aids Dr. Bond to establish Pennsylvania hospital.
1752. Collinson edition of Franklin's works translated into French. Alleged kite experiment proves identity of lightning and electricity. Invents lightning rod; in September raises one over his own house. Mother dies. Aids in establishing the first fire insurance company in the colonies.
1753. Appointed (jointly with William Hunter) deputy postmaster general of North America Post, a position he held until 1774. Makes ten-weeks' survey of roads and post offices in northern colonies. Abbé Nollet attacks Franklin inLettres sur l'électricité(Paris). Beccaria defends Franklin's electrical theories against Abbé Nollet. Receives M. A. from Harvard and from Yale. Receives Sir Godfrey Copley medal from the Royal Society.
1754. Proposes Albany Plan of Union. Second edition ofExperiments and Observations on Electricity.
1755.An Act for the Better Ordering and Regulating such as are Willing and Desirous to be United for Military Purposes within the Province of Pennsylvania.A Dialogue Between X, Y, & Z, concerning the Present State of Affairs in Pennsylvania.Aids General Braddock in getting supplies and transportation.
1756. Supervises construction efforts in province of Pennsylvania (a task begun in 1755). Chosen Fellow of the Royal Society of London. Chosen a member of the London Society of Arts.Plan for Settling the Western Colonies in North America, with Reasons for the Plan.M. D'Alibard's edition of Franklin's electrical experiments (French translation). Receives M. A. from William and Mary College.
1757. Appointed colonial agent for Province of Pennsylvania (arrives in London July 26).The Way to Wealth(for 1758). (In 1889 Ford noted: "Seventy editions of it have been printed in English, fifty-six in French, eleven in German, and nine in Italian. It has been translated into Spanish, Danish, Swedish, Welsh, Polish, Gaelic, Russian, Bohemian, Dutch, Catalan, Chinese, Modern Greek and Phonetic writing. It has been printed at least four hundred times, and is today as popular as ever.")
1759. Receives Doctor of Laws degree from University of St. Andrews. September 5, made burgess and guild-brother of Edinburgh.An Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania.(See Ford, pp. 110-111, where he suggests that this "must still be treated as from Franklin's pen.")Parable against Persecution.Meets Adam Smith, Hume, Lord Kames, etc., in home of Dr. Robertson at Edinburgh. Makes many electrical experiments. Chosen honorary member of Philosophical Society of Edinburgh.
1760. Provincial grand master of Pennsylvania Masons.The Interest of Great Britain Considered with Regard to Her Colonies.Elected to society of Dr. Bray's Associates. (Corresponding member until 1790.) Successful close of his issue with the proprietaries.
1761. Tour of Holland and Belgium.
1762. Receives degree of Doctor of Civil Law from Oxford. Leaves England in August, arrives in America in October.
1763. Travels through colonies to inspect and regulate post offices.
1764. Appointed agent for Province of Pennsylvania to petition king for change from proprietary to royal government. Leaves for London in November.Cool Thoughts on the Present Situation of Our Public Affairs.A Narrative of the Late Massacres in Lancaster County.Preface to the Speech of Joseph Galloway, Esq.
1765. Presents Grenville with resolution of Pennsylvania Assembly against Stamp Act.
1766. Examined in House of Commons relative to repeal of the Stamp Act.Physical and Meteorological Observations.With Sir John Pringle visits Germany and Holland (June-August). Chosen foreign member of the Royal Society of Sciences, Göttingen.
1767. With Sir John Pringle visits France (August 28-October 8). Meets French Physiocrats.Remarks and Facts Concerning American Paper Money.
1768. Preface toLetters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania(J. Dickinson).A Scheme for a New Alphabet and Reformed Mode of Spelling.Causes of the American Discontents before 1768.Art of Swimming.Appointed London agent for colony of Georgia.
1769. Visits France (July-August). Appointed New Jersey agent in London. Elected first president of the American Philosophical Society.
1770. Appointed London agent for Massachusetts Assembly.
1771. BeginsAutobiography(from 1706 to 1731) while visiting the Bishop of St. Asaph at Twyford. Three-months' tour of Ireland and Scotland. Entertained by Hume and Lord Kames. Chosen corresponding member of Learned Society of Sciences, Rotterdam.
1772. Chosen foreign member of Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris.
1773.Abridgement of the Book of Common Prayer(with Sir Francis Dashwood).Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One.M. Barbeu Dubourg's edition ofŒuvres de M. Franklin. Sends Hutchinson-Oliver letters to Massachusetts.
1774. Examined by Wedderburn before the Privy Council (January 29) in regard to the Hutchinson-Oliver correspondence. Contributes notes to George Whately's second edition ofPrinciples of Trade. Dismissed as deputy postmaster general of North America. Deborah Franklin dies December 19.
1775. First postmaster general under Confederation. Returns to America in May. Member of Philadelphia Committee of Safety. Chosen a delegate to second Continental Congress.An Account of Negotiations in London for Effecting a Reconciliation between Great Britain and the American Colonies.Appointed member of Committee of Secret Correspondence.
1776. A commissioner to Canada. Presides over Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania. Appointed one of committee to frame Declaration of Independence. In September appointed one of three commissioners from Congress to the French court. Leaves Philadelphia October 27; reaches Paris December 21.
1777. Elected member of Loge des Neuf Sœurs. Chosen associate member of Royal Medical Society of Paris.
1778. Assists at initiation of Voltaire in Loge des Neuf Sœurs. Officiates at Masonic funeral service of Voltaire. Signs commercial treaty and alliance for mutual defense with France.The Ephemera.Altercation with Arthur Lee.
1779. Minister plenipotentiary to French court.The Whistle.Morals of Chess.B. Vaughan edits Franklin'sPolitical, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces.
1780.Dialogue between Franklin and the Gout.
1781. Chosen Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences: elected foreign member of Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts of Padua, for work in natural philosophy and politics. Appointed one of the peace commissioners to negotiate treaty of peace between England and United States.
1782. Elected Venerable of Loge des Neuf Sœurs.
1783. Signs treaty with Sweden. PrintsConstitutions of the United States. Elected Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Interest in balloons. Signs the Treaty of Paris with John Jay and John Adams.
1784. With Le Roy, Bailly, Guillotin, Lavoisier, and others, investigates Mesmer's animal magnetism (results in numerous pamphlet reports).Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America. Advice to Such as Would Remove to America.Chosen member of Royal Academy of History, Madrid. At Passy resumes work onAutobiography, beyond 1731.
1785.Maritime Observations.On the Causes and Cure of Smoky Chimneys.Signs treaty of amity and commerce with Prussia. Resigns as minister to French Court, and returns to Philadelphia. President of Council of Pennsylvania (incumbent for three years). Associate member of Academy of Sciences, Literature, and Arts of Lyons. Councillor for Philadelphia until 1788. Member of Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, and Royal Society of Physics, National History and Arts of Orleans, and honorary member of Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society.
1786. Chosen corresponding member of Society of Agriculture of Milan.
1787. President of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery (incumbent until death). Pennsylvania delegate to Constitutional Convention. Chosen honorary member of Medical Society of London. Aids in establishing the Society for Political Enquiry; elected its first president.
1788. At Philadelphia works onAutobiography, from 1731-1757.
1789.Observations Relative to the Intentions of the Original Founders of the Academy in Philadelphiaand several papers in behalf of abolition of slavery. At Philadelphia resumesAutobiography, from 1757 to 1759. Chosen member of Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg.
1790. Paper on the slave trade,To the Editor of the Federal Gazette, March 23. Dies, April 17, in Philadelphia.
Starred items are of primary importance.
Only the most useful and historically significant editions are here listed. The student interested in other editions of Franklin's works, the publication of his separate pamphlets, his contributions to newspapers and periodicals, and his editorial activities should consult P. L. Ford'sFranklin Bibliography. Many of these items are conveniently listed inThe Cambridge History of American Literature, I, 442 ff.
Experiments and Observations on Electricity, made at Philadelphia in America, By Mr. Benjamin Franklin, and Communicated in several Letters to P. Collinson, of London, F. R. S.London: 1751. (For various editions and translations of this and the supplementary letters added to first edition, consult Ford'sBibliography.)
Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces; ... Written by Benj. Franklin, LL. D. and F. R. S.... Now first collected, With Explanatory Plates, Notes, ...[ed. by Benjamin Vaughan]. London: 1779. ("The work is ably performed, many pieces being for the first time printed as Franklin's; and contains valuable notes. But what gives a special value to this collection is that it is the only edition of Franklin's writings [other than his scientific], which was printed during his life time; was done with Franklin's knowledge and consent, and contains an 'errata' made by him for it" [Ford, p. 161]. Review inMonthly Review, LXII, 199-210, 298-308, describes his electrical experiments as constituting a "principia" of electricity. See also Smyth, VII, 410-13, for Franklin's own opinion.)
Mémoires de la vie privée de Benjamin Franklin, écrits par luimême, et adressés à son fils; suivis d'un précis historique de sa vie politique, et de plusieurs pièces, relatives à ce père de la liberté.Paris: 1791. (First edition of Franklin'sAutobiographyto the year 1731; translation attributed to Dr. Jacques Gibelin. "The remainder of his life is a translation from Wilmer'sMemoirsof Franklin, with the most objectionable statements omitted" [Ford, p. 183]. For a succinct history ofAutobiography, editions, printing, translation, and fortunes of the MS see Bigelow's introduction toAutobiography.)
Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin, LL. D. F. R. S. &c.... Written by himself to a late period, and continued to the time of his death, by his Grandson; William Temple Franklin. Now first published from the original MSS....3 vols. London: 1818. (The standard collection, according to A. H. Smyth, until Sparks's edition. Representative review inAnalectic Magazine, XI, 449-84, June, 1818.)
The Works of Benjamin Franklin; containing several political and historical tracts not included in any former edition, and many letters official and private not hitherto published; with notes and a life of the author, by Jared Sparks. 10 vols. Boston: 1836-1840. (Although Sparks took undesirable editorial liberties with the MSS, rephrasing, emending, and deleting, this edition still possesses value for its notes and inclusion of pieces which Smyth does not include, but whichmayhave been written by Franklin. Includes many valuable letters to Franklin. For reviews seeNorth American Review, LIX, 446, and LXXXIII, 402.)
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Edited from his Manuscript, with Notes and an Introduction, by John Bigelow. Philadelphia: 1868. (To quote Ford: "This is not only the first appearance of the autobiography from Franklin's own copy, but also the first publication in English of the four parts, and the first publication of the very important 'outline' autobiography. It is therefore the first edition oftheautobiography" [p. 199].)
The Life of Benjamin Franklin, written by himself. Now first edited from original manuscripts and from his printed correspondence and other writings, by John Bigelow. 3 vols. Philadelphia: 1874. (Bigelow text ofAutobiographyand extracts from Franklin's other works.)
The Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin including his private as well as his official and scientific correspondence, and numerous letters and documents now for the first time printed with many others not included in any former collection, also the unmutilated and correct version of his autobiography.Comp. and ed. by John Bigelow. 10 vols. New York: 1887-1889. (Corrects many of Sparks's errors and adds "some six hundred new pieces." For first time works are chronologically arranged.)
*The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, collected and edited with a Life and Introduction, by Albert Henry Smyth. 10 vols. New York: 1905-1907. (The standard edition. It is unfortunate that the editor has omitted pieces which are either too Rabelaisian or too metaphysically radical, such as theDissertationof 1725, or are, in his mind,probablynot written by Franklin.)
No attempt has been made to include the learned journal articles which reprint occasional letters not in Smyth. Letters which aid in understanding Franklin's mind have been referred to in the Introduction and Notes.
Chinard, Gilbert.Les amitiés américaines de Madame d'Houdetot, d'après sa correspondance inédite avec Benjamin Franklin et Thomas Jefferson.Paris: 1924.
Diller, Theodore.Franklin's Contribution to Medicine.Brooklyn: 1912. (Able collection of Franklin's letters bearing on medicine. Franklin is described "as one of the greatest benefactors, friends, and patrons of the medical profession as well as a most substantial contributor to the science and art of medicine.")
[Franklin, Benjamin.]A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain.Reproduced from the first edition, with a bibliographical note by Lawrence C. Wroth. The Facsimile Text Society, New York: 1930. (Although A. H. Smyth omitted this work from hisWritings of Benjamin Franklin, suggesting that "the work has no value," it is difficult to see how a study of themodus operandiof Franklin's mind could be thoroughly made without it. Parton in hisLife and Times of Benjamin Franklin, and I. W. Riley in hisAmerican Philosophy: The Early Schoolshave reprinted it in appendices.)
Franklin, Benjamin.Poor Richard's Almanack. Being the Almanacks of 1733, 1749, 1756, 1757, 1758, first written under the name of Richard Saunders.With a foreword by Phillips Russell. Garden City, N. Y.: 1928. ("First facsimile edition of a group of the Almanacks to be published.")
Franklin, Benjamin.The Prefaces, Proverbs, and Poems of Benjamin Franklin Originally Printed in Poor Richard's Almanacs for 1733-1758.Collected and ed. by P. L. Ford. Brooklyn: 1890. (Best collection of its kind; in addition contains account of popularity and function of almanacs in colonial period.)
Franklin, Benjamin.Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania.Facsimile reprint, with an introduction by William Pepper. Philadelphia: 1931. (Franklin's notes omitted in Smyth.Proposalsalso reprinted by the William L. Clements Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan: 1927; "though not a facsimile reprint," it does include the notes. Thomas Woody in hisEducational Views of Benjamin Franklin[New York: 1931] reprints it with the notes.)
Franklin, Benjamin.The Sayings of Poor Richard, 1733-1758.Condensed and ed. by T. H. Russell. N.p.: n.d. (Best aphorisms chronologically arranged.)
Goodman, N. G., ed.The Ingenious Dr. Franklin; Selected Scientific Letters of Benjamin Franklin.Philadelphia: 1931. (Includes several items not published in Smyth edition.)
Letters to Benjamin Franklin, from his Family and Friends, 1751-1790.[Ed. by William Duane.] New York: 1859.
Pepper, William.The Medical Side of Benjamin Franklin.Philadelphia: 1911. (Essentially quotations from the A. H. Smyth edition. Franklin is viewed as "an early and great hygienist.")
Stifler, J. M., ed. "My Dear Girl."The Correspondence of Benjamin Franklin with Polly Stevenson, Georgiana and Catherine Shipley.New York: 1927. (Engaging collection showing Franklin's "capacity for lively and enduring friendship" [p. vii]. Many of the letterstoFranklin "printed now for the first time." Contains several of Franklin's letters hitherto unpublished.)
Becker, Carl. "Benjamin Franklin," inDictionary of American Biography. New York: 1931. VI, 585-98. (The most authoritative brief biography.)
*Bruce, W. C.Benjamin Franklin, Self-Revealed.2 vols. New York: 1917. (In spite of occasional extravagant statements and a conservative temperament preventing him from discussing Franklin's religion with sympathetic and historical insight, Mr. Bruce has provided a brilliant and perspicuous survey. "Self-revealed" fails to do justice to Bruce's incisive commentary.)
*Faÿ, Bernard.Franklin, the Apostle of Modern Times.Boston: 1929. (A readable critical biography said to be based on "six hundred to nine hundred unpublished letters." Would have been more useful had it been given scholarly documentation. Some new light on Franklin's Masonic activities and his efforts during 1757-1762 to effect the growth of a British empire. [Faÿ used the Franklin-Galloway correspondence in the W. S. Mason and W. L. Clements collections.] Believes that Franklin was a "follower of the seventeenth-century English Pythagoreans": since this belief is largely undocumented, one feels it curious that Pythagoreanism should bulk larger than the pattern of thought provoked by Locke and Newton. See very critical reviews by H. M. Jones inAmerican Literature, II, 306-12 [Nov., 1930], and W. C. Bruce,American Historical Review, XXXV, 634 ff. [April, 1930]. The latter concludes that "there is very little, indeed, in the text of the book under review that makes any unquestionably substantial addition to our pre-existing knowledge of Franklin, or is marked by anything that can be termed freshness of interpretation.")
Faÿ, Bernard.The Two Franklins: Fathers of American Democracy.Boston: 1933. (Charmingly spirited portrait of patriarchal Franklin of Passy [reworking of materials inFranklin, the Apostle of Modern Times]. Faÿ's habit of mingling quotation, paraphrase, and intuition in use of Bache's Diary suggests untrustworthy documentation. The second Franklin is, of course, Benjamin Franklin Bache [1769-1798, son of Sally Franklin and Richard Bache], editor of the republicanAurora General Advertiser. For a judicial, unsympathetic review see A. Guerard's in theNew York Herald Tribune Books, Oct. 22, 1933. J. A. Krout, in theAmerican Historical Review, XXXIX, 741-2 [July, 1934], observes that Faÿ "fails to establish the elder Franklin's paternal relation to the democratic forces of the 'revolutionary' decade after 1790.")
Fisher, S. G.The True Benjamin Franklin.Philadelphia: 1899. (Highly prejudiced interpretation with disproportionate attention to Franklin's acknowledged shortcomings.)
*Ford, P. L.The Many-Sided Franklin.New York: 1899. (A gracefully solid and inclusive standard work.)
Hale, E. E., and Hale, E. E., Jr.Franklin in France. From Original Documents, Most of Which Are Now Published for the First Time.2 vols. Boston: 1887-1888. (Convenient collection of letters to Franklin; authors had access to Stevens and American Philosophical Society collections. Franklin letters and documents here given later published in Smyth. Useful chapters on Franklin's friends, his vogue in France, meetings with Voltaire, his activities in science, his interest in balloons, and investigation of Mesmerism. See reviews inDial, VIII, 7, IX, 204;Nation, XLIV, 368;Athenaeum, II, 77 [1887];Atlantic Monthly, LX, 318.)
McMaster, J. B.Benjamin Franklin as a Man of Letters.American Men of Letters series. Boston: 1887. (Fullest account of this aspect of the many-minded Franklin. See also MacLaurin and Jorgenson items, pp. clxv, clxvi below.)
More, P. E.Benjamin Franklin.Riverside Biographical Series. Boston: 1900. (Suggestive of aprécisof Parton'sLifewith judicial, if not historical, penetration. Stimulating notes, such as the following: Franklin was "a great pagan, who lapsed now and then into the pseudo-religious platitudes of the eighteenth-century deists.")
Morse, John Torrey, Jr.Benjamin Franklin.American Statesmen series. Boston: 1889. (Compact account stressing his political and diplomatic career.)
*Parton, James.Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin.2 vols. New York: 1864. (Although not all works ascribed to Franklin by Parton are by his pen, and although new materials have been added to the Franklin canon, he remains the most encyclopedic and often the most penetrating of Franklin's biographers. He deserves credit for printing in an appendix Franklin'sDissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain. For reviews seeNorth American Review[July, 1864];Atlantic Monthly[Sept., 1864];London Quarterly, XXIII, 483;Littell's Living Age, LXXXIV, 289.)
Russell, Phillips.Benjamin Franklin, the First Civilised American.New York: 1926. (Theespritand readableness of this popular work do not offset its lack of precision, historical scholarship, and taste.)
Smyth, Albert H. "Life of Benjamin Franklin," in Vol. X, 141-510, ofThe Writings of Benjamin Franklin. (Stimulating survey.)
Swift, Lindsay.Benjamin Franklin.Beacon Biographies of Eminent Americans. Boston: 1910. (Brief series of biographical "impressions" arranged chronologically.)
Weems, Mason L.The Life of Benjamin Franklin, with many Choice Anecdotes and Admirable Sayings of this Great Man.Baltimore: 1815. (One would think it unfair to smile at a writer who had the wit to describe Franklin as one who "with such equal ease, could play theNewtonor theChesterfield, and charm alike the lightnings and the ladies." Contains some imaginative, though intuitive, remarks on Franklin's religion.)
Abbe, C. "Benjamin Franklin as Meteorologist,"Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, XLV, 117-28 (1906). ("Worthy co-laborer" with Newton, Huygens, Descartes, Boyle, and Gay-Lussac. He is "the first meteorologist of America," "pioneer of the rational long-range forecasters.")
Abbot, G. M.A Short History of the Library Company of Philadelphia: Compiled from the Minutes, together with some personal reminiscences.Philadelphia: 1913.
Amiable, L.Une loge maçonnique d'avant 1789. La R.·. L.·. Les Neuf Sœurs.Paris: 1897. (Fullest account of Franklin's activities in French Freemasonry.)
Analectic Magazine, XI, 449-84 (June, 1818). (Review of W. T. Franklin's edition of Franklin's works. Complexion of this eulogy suggested by: "His name is now exalted in Europe above any others of the eighteenth century.")
Angoff, Charles.A Literary History of the American People.New York: 1931. II, 295-310. (It would be difficult to match the debonair ignorance of this violently hostile essay.)
"A Poem on the Death of Franklin,"Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, XV, 109 (Jan., 1930). (A typical elegy based on theme suggested by Turgot's epigram on Franklin.)
Bache, R. M. "Smoky Torches in Franklin's Honor,"Critic, XLVIII, 561-6 (June, 1906). (Charming in its caustic though just view that "articles on Franklin have verged on superfluity.")
Bache, R. M. "The So-Called 'Franklin Prayer-Book,'"Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, XXI, 225-34 (1897). (See Rev. John Wright's account of the same inEarly Prayer Books of America[St. Paul: 1896], pp. 386-99.)
Biddison, P. "The Magazine Franklin Failed to Remember,"American Literature, IV, 177-80 (May, 1932). (Survey of the Franklin-Webbe altercation concerning the inauguration of Franklin'sGeneral Magazine, and Historical Chronicle ..., 1741.)
Bigelow, John. "Franklin as the Man,"Independent, LX, 69-72 (Jan. 11, 1906). (Stresses his tolerance, common sense, and "constitutional unwillingness to dogmatize.")
Bleyer, W. G.Main Currents in the History of American Journalism.Boston: 1927. (Chapters I-II contain excellent survey of theNew England Courant, and thePennsylvania Gazetteduring its formative years. Bibliography, pp. 431-41.)
Bloore, Stephen. "Joseph Breintnall, First Secretary of the Library Company,"Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, LIX, 42-56 (Jan., 1935). (Valuable notes on Franklin's collaborator inBusy-Bodyseries.)
Bloore, Stephen. "Samuel Keimer. A Foot-note to the Life of Franklin,"Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, LIV, 255-87 (July, 1930). (Readers of theAutobiographywill appreciate this excellent study of one who figures prominently in its pages.)
Brett-James, N. G.The Life of Peter Collinson.London: [1917]. (Many notes on Franklin-Collinson friendship. Collinson, it is remembered, "started Franklin on his career as a researcher in electricity.")
Buckingham, J. T.Specimens of Newspaper Literature; with Personal Memoirs, Anecdotes, and Reminiscences.2 vols. Boston: 1850. (Vol. I, 49-88, discussesNew England Courant. IdentifiesDogood Papersas Franklin's.)
Bullen, H. L. "Benjamin Franklin and What Printing Did for Him,"American Collector, II, 284-91 (May, 1926).
Butler, Ruth L.Doctor Franklin, Postmaster General.Garden City, N. Y.: 1928. (A sturdily documented study illustrating that Franklin "furnished the most highly efficient administration to the postal system during the colonial period.")
Canby, H. S. "Benjamin Franklin," inClassic Americans. New York: 1931, pp. 34-45. (Spirited estimate partly vitiated by excessive emphasis on influence of Quakerism; Canby observes that Franklin's mind represents "Quakerism conventionalized, stylized, and Deicized.")
*Carey, Lewis J.Franklin's Economic Views.Garden City, N. Y.: 1928. (Excellent survey.)
Cestre, Charles. "Franklin, homme représentatif,"Revue Anglo-Américaine, 409-23, 505-22 (June, August, 1928).
Choate, J. H. "Benjamin Franklin," inAbraham Lincoln, and Other Addresses in England. New York: 1910, pp. 47-94. (Sanely eulogistic biographical survey.)
Condorcet, Marquis de.Éloge de M. Franklin, lu à la séance publique de l'Académie des Sciences, le 13 Nov., 1790 ...Paris: 1791. (Both a eulogy, and an interpretation ofwhyFrance, as representative of the Enlightenment, eulogized the Philadelphia tradesman. By the most sublime of thephilosophes.)
Cook, E. C.Literary Influences in Colonial Newspapers, 1704-1750.New York: 1912. (Trenchant analysis of Franklin's indebtedness to Addison and Steele—especially in theDogood Papers—the character of theNew England Courant, advertisements of books inPennsylvania Gazette, etc. "Benjamin Franklin was the only prominent man of the period who deliberately attempted to spread the knowledge and love of literature among his countrymen.")
Crane, V. W. "Certain Writings of Benjamin Franklin on the British Empire and the American Colonies,"Papers of the Bibliographical Society, XXVIII, Pt. 1, 1-27 (1934). (Newly identified Franklin papers more than double existing canon. He becomes "the chief agent of the American propaganda in England, especially between 1765 and 1770." New canon promises to "illuminate the development of Franklin's political ideas." Very significant.)
Cumston, C. G. "Benjamin Franklin from the Medical Viewpoint,"New York Medical Journal, LXXXIX, 3-12 (Jan. 2, 1909). (Useful survey.)
Cutler, W. P., and Cutler, J. P.Life, Journals and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler.2 vols. Cincinnati: 1888. (Portrait of patriarchal Franklin at age of eighty-four.)
Dickinson, A. D. "Benjamin Franklin, Bookman,"Bookman, LIII, 197-205 (May, 1921). (Brief account of Franklin imprints.)
Discours du Comte de Mirabeau. Dans la séance du 11 Juin, sur la mort de Benjamin Francklin[sic]. Imprimé par ordre de l'Assemblée National. Paris: 1790.
Draper, J. W. "Franklin's Place in the Science of the Last Century,"Harper's Magazine, LXI, 265-75 (July, 1880). (Franklin's discoveries "were only embellishments of his life." Superficial.)
Duniway, C. A.The Development of Freedom of the Press in Massachusetts.Cambridge, Mass.: 1906. (Chapter VI includes account of James Franklin and theNew England Courant.)
Eddy, G. S. "Dr. Benjamin Franklin's Library,"Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society,N. S.XXXIV, 206-26 (Oct., 1924). (This indefatigable scholar has ascertained the titles of 1350 volumes in Franklin's library. This survey article does not list the titles.)
*Eiselen, M. R.Franklin's Political Theories.Garden City, N. Y.: 1928. (Thoughtful survey.)
Eiselen, M. R.The Rise of Pennsylvania Protectionism.Philadelphia: 1932. (University of Pennsylvania dissertation. Chapter I describes Franklin's holding to laissez faire in a state dominantly protectionist.)
Eliot, T. D. "The Relations Between Adam Smith and Benjamin Franklin before 1776,"Political Science Quarterly, XXXIX, 67-96 (March, 1924). (Exhaustive documentary data which fails to establish specific and incontrovertible Franklin influence on Smith.)
"Excerpts from the Papers of Dr. Benjamin Rush,"Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, XXIX, 15-30 (Jan., 1905). (Includes "Conversations with Franklin," pp. 23-8: Franklin terms Latin and Greek the "quackery of literature"; is alleged to have reprobated the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, in that it placed "the Supreme power of the State in the hands of a Single legislature." Other interesting sidelights.)
Farrand, Max, ed.The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787.3 vols. New Haven: 1911. (Records show Franklin as a
sober moderator: when rival factions tended to render the
convention impotent, he said, "When a broad table is to be
made, and the edges
Fauchet, Claude.Éloge civique de Benjamin Franklin, prononcé, le 21 Juillet 1790, dans la Rotonde, au nom de la Commune de Paris.Paris: 1790.
Faÿ, Bernard. "Franklin et Mirabeau collaborateurs,"Revue de Littérature Comparée, VIII, 5-28 (1928). (Franklin furnished materials for Mirabeau'sConsiderations on the Order of Cincinnatus.)
Faÿ, Bernard. "Learned Societies in Europe and America in the Eighteenth Century,"American Historical Review, XXXVII, 255-66 (Jan., 1932). (Urges that like all learned societies in the eighteenth century, Franklin's Junto and American Philosophical Society "had Masonic leanings.")
Faÿ, Bernard. "Le credo de Franklin,"Correspondant, 570-8 (Feb. 25, 1930).
Faÿ, Bernard. "Les débuts de Franklin en France,"Revue de Paris, 577-605 (Feb. 1, 1931).
Faÿ, Bernard. "Les dernières amours d'un philosophe,"Correspondant, 381-96 (May 10, 1930).
Faÿ, Bernard. "Le triomphe de Franklin en France,"Revue de Paris, 872-96 (Feb. 15, 1931).
Ford, P. L. "Franklin as Printer and Publisher,"Century Magazine, LVII, 803-17 (April, 1899).
Ford, W. C. "Franklin and Chatham,"Independent, LX, 94-7 (Jan. 11, 1906).
Ford, W. C. "Franklin's New England Courant,"Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, LVII, 336-53 (April, 1924).
Ford, W. C. "One of Franklin's Friendships. From Hitherto Unpublished Correspondence between Madame de Brillon and Benjamin Franklin, 1776-1789,"Harper's Magazine, CXIII, 626-33 (Sept., 1906).
Foster, J. W. "Franklin as a Diplomat,"Independent, LX, 84-9 (Jan. 11, 1906).
Fox, R. H.Dr. John Fothergill and His Friends; Chapters in Eighteenth Century Life.London: 1919. (Franklin and Fothergill, "lovers of nature and keen students of physical science," met in 1757. See also J. C. Lettsom,Memoirs of John Fothergill, 4th ed., London: 1786.)
Garrison, F. W. "Franklin and the Physiocrats,"Freeman, VIII, 154-6 (Oct. 24, 1923). (Transcended by Carey's chapter inFranklin's Economic Views, but has quotation from Dupont de Nemours [1769]: "Who does not know that the English have today their Benjamin Franklin, who has adopted the principles and the doctrines of our French economists?")
Goggio, E. "Benjamin Franklin and Italy,"Romanic Review, XIX, 302-8 (Oct., 1928). (Largely through the efforts of G. Beccaria, "Benjamin Franklin was one of the first Americans to gain eminence and popularity among the people of Italy.")
Goode, G. B. "The Literary Labors of Benjamin Franklin,"Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, XXVIII, 177-97 (1890).
Grandgent, C. H. "Benjamin Franklin the Reformer," inPrunes and Prisms, with Other Odds and Ends. Cambridge, Mass.: 1928, pp. 86-97. ("The principles advocated in his unfinished exposition [on spelling reform] are those which phoneticians now advocate.")
Greene, S. A. "The Story of a Famous Book,"Atlantic Monthly, XXVII, 207-12 (Feb., 1871). (A kind ofprécisof Bigelow's Introduction toAutobiography.)
Griswold, A. W. "Three Puritans on Prosperity,"New England Quarterly, VII, 475-93 (Sept., 1934). (Cotton Mather, Timothy Dwight, and Franklin. One wonders by what right Franklin is dubbed the "soul of Puritanism.")
Guedalla, Philip. "Dr. Franklin," inFathers of the Revolution. New York: 1926, pp. 215-34. (Chatty popular review of "the first high-priest of the religion of efficiency.")
Guillois, Antoine.Le salon de Madame Helvétius.Paris: 1894.
Gummere, R. M. "Socrates at the Printing Press. Benjamin Franklin and the Classics,"Classical Weekly, XXVI, 57-9 (Dec. 5, 1932). (Survey of his references to the classics, with occasional estimates of impact on his mind.)
Hale, E. E. "Ben Franklin's Ballads,"New England Magazine,N. S.XVIII, 505-7 (1898). (Thinks "The Downfall of Piracy," found in Ashton'sReal Sea-Songs, is "one of the two lost ballads" Franklin mentions inAutobiography.)
Hale, E. E. "Franklin as Philosopher and Moralist,"Independent, LX, 89-93 (Jan. 11, 1906). (Does not go beyond terming Franklin's philosophy common sense.)
Harrison, Frederic. "Benjamin Franklin," inMemories and Thoughts. New York: 1906, pp. 119-23. (Keen appraisal.)
Hart, C. H. "Benjamin Franklin in Allegory,"Century Magazine, XLI (N. S.XIX), 197-204 (Dec., 1890). (The French sanctify Franklin in allegory.)
Hart, C. H. "Who Was the Mother of Franklin's Son? An Inquiry Demonstrating that She Was Deborah Read, Wife of Benjamin Franklin,"Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, XXXV, 308-14 (July, 1911). (Plausible circumstantial evidence is offered.)
Hays, I. M.The Chronology of Benjamin Franklin, Founder of the American Philosophical Society.Philadelphia: 1904.
Hill, D. J. "A Missing Chapter of Franco-American History,"American Historical Review, XXI, 709-19 (July, 1916). (Political interests of Masonic "Lodge of the Nine Sisters," Paris, of which Franklin was an active member. Franklin described as "creator of constitutionalism in Europe.")
Houston, E. J. "Franklin as a Man of Science and an Inventor,"Journal of the Franklin Institute, CLXI, Nos. 4-5, 241-383 (April-May, 1906).
Hulbert, C.Biographical Sketches of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, General Washington, and Thomas Paine; with an Essay on Atheism and Infidelity.London: 1820. (Franklin and Washington made almost saintly to contrast with Paine, "a notorious Unbeliever." Quotes one who sees Franklin as "the patriot of the world, the playmate of the lightning, the philosopher of liberty.")
Jackson, M. K.Outlines of the Literary History of Colonial Pennsylvania.Lancaster, Pa.: 1906. (Especially chapter III, which surveys Franklin as man of letters.)
Jernegan, M. W. "Benjamin Franklin's 'Electrical Kite' and Lightning Rod,"New England Quarterly, I, 180-96 (April, 1928). ("The question still remains however whether Franklin flew his kitebeforehe heard of the French experiments, and thus discovered the identity of lightning and electricity independently." Summarizes and supersedes: McAdie, A., "The Date of Franklin's Kite Experiment,"Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society,N. S.XXXIV, 188-205; Rotch, A. L., "Did Benjamin Franklin Fly His Electrical Kite before He Invented the Lightning Rod?"Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society,N. S.XVIII, 115-23.)
Jordan, J. W. "Franklin as a Genealogist,"Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, XXIII, 1-22 (April, 1899).
Jorgenson, C. E. "A Brand Flung at Colonial Orthodoxy. Samuel Keimer's 'Universal Instructor in All Arts and Sciences,'"Journalism Quarterly, XII, 272-7 (Sept., 1935). (Shows deistic tendencies.)
Jorgenson, C. E. "The New Science in the Almanacs of Ames and Franklin,"New England Quarterly, VIII, 555-61 (Dec., 1935). (Newtonianism and scientific deism diffused through these popular almanacs.)
Jorgenson, C. E. "Sidelights on Benjamin Franklin's Principles of Rhetoric,"Revue Anglo-Américaine, 208-22 (Feb., 1934). (Franklin's principles in general are consonant with the eighteenth-century neoclassic ideals.)
Jorgenson, C. E. "The Source of Benjamin Franklin's Dialogues between Philocles and Horatio (1730),"American Literature, VI, 337-9 (Nov., 1934). (The source is Shaftesbury's "The Moralists," in theCharacteristics.)
*Jusserand, J. J. "Franklin in France," inEssays Offered to Herbert Putnam ...Ed. by W. W. Bishop and A. Keogh. New Haven: 1929, pp. 226-47. (Delightful summary.)
Kane, Hope F. "James Franklin Senior, Printer of Boston and Newport,"American Collector, III, 17-26 (Oct., 1926). (A study of hisNew England Courantand his place in the development of freedom of the press.)
King, M. R. "One Link in the First Newspaper Chain,The South Carolina Gazette," Journalism Quarterly, IX, 257-68 (Sept., 1932). (Franklin's partnership with Thomas Whitemarsh in 1731 is here alleged to have begun the first American newspaper "chain.")
Kite, Elizabeth S. "Benjamin Franklin—Diplomat,"Catholic World, CXLII, 28-37 (Oct., 1935). (An intelligent and appreciative brief survey of the subject, with a considerable preface showing the extent to which Franklin's worldly success grew out of his religious views.)
Lees, F. "The Parisian Suburb of Passy: Its Architecture in the Days of Franklin,"Architectural Record, XII, 669-83 (Dec., 1902). (Several good illustrations included.)
Livingston, L. S.Franklin and His Press at Passy; An Account of the Books, Pamphlets, and Leaflets Printed There, including the Long-Lost Bagatelles.The Grolier Club, New York: 1914. (For additions to this work begun by L. S. Livingston, see R. G. Adams, "The 'Passy-ports' and Their Press,"American Collector, IV, 177-80 [Aug., 1927], which includes bibliography useful to study of the Passy imprints.)
MacDonald, William. "The Fame of Franklin,"Atlantic Monthly, XCVI. 450-62 (Oct., 1905).
Mackay, Constance D'A.Franklin. A Play.New York: 1922.
MacLaurin, Lois M.Franklin's Vocabulary.Garden City, N. Y.: 1928. (His "conservative ideas about linguistic innovations" are to a notable degree achieved in his practices. For example, of a vocabulary of 4062 words used in his writings between 1722 and 1751, "only 19 were discovered to be pure 'Americanisms.'")
McMaster, J. B. "Franklin in France,"Atlantic Monthly, LX, 318-26 (Sept., 1887). (Good survey, based on Hale and Hale,Franklin in France.)
Malone, Kemp. "Benjamin Franklin on Spelling Reform,"American Speech, I, 96-100 (Nov., 1925). (Franklin was the "first American to tackle English phonetics scientifically.")
Mason, W. S. "Franklin and Galloway: Some Unpublished Letters,"Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society,N. S.XXXIV, 227-58 (Oct., 1924). (Significant sidelights cast on "the problems of Pennsylvania colonial history from 1757 to 1760." Excellent summary of Franklin's and Galloway's victory over the Proprietors. Mr. Mason's collection includes many valuable letters [Franklin-Galloway] between 1757 and 1772, not published in Smyth.)
Mathews, Mrs. L. K. "Benjamin Franklin's Plans for a Colonial Union, 1750-1775,"American Political Science Review, VIII, 393-412 (Aug., 1914).
Melville, Herman.Israel Potter.London: 1923. (Graphic intuitive portrait of Franklin: he lives as a "household Plato," "a practical Magian in linsey-woolsey," a "didactically waggish," prudent courtier who "was everything but a poet.")
Mémoires de l'Abbé Morellet, de l'Académie Française, sur le dixhuitième siècle et sur la Révolution.2 vols. Paris: 1821. (Especially II, 286-311. Franklin viewed as very emblem of Liberty.)
Montgomery, T. H.A History of the University of Pennsylvania from Its Foundation to A. D. 1770.Philadelphia: 1900.
Monthly Review; or Literary Journal: By Several Hands.London: 1770. XLII, 199-210, 298-308. ("The experiments and observations of Dr. Franklin constitute theprincipiaof electricity, and form the basis of a system equally simple and profound.")
*More, P. E. "Benjamin Franklin," inShelburne Essays, Fourth Series. New York: 1906, pp. 129-55. (Provocative appraisal: stresses Franklin's "contemporaneity," his tendency to be oblivious to the past—a suggestive, if a moot point.)
Morgan, W.Memoirs of the Life of Rev. Richard Price.London: 1815. (Notes on Franklin's relations with Price during early 1760's; meetings at Royal Society and London Coffee-house.)
Mottay, F.Benjamin Franklin et la philosophie pratique.Paris: 1886. (Good model for citizens of a free nation and "le véritable catechisme de l'homme vertueux." Also several just remarks on his style which possesses "les mots épiques d'un Corneille et les élégantes périphrases d'un Racine.")
Moulton, C. W., ed.Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors. Buffalo, N. Y.: 1901. IV, 79-106. (Stimulating assembly of extracts which aids student in discovering the history of Franklin's reputation.)
Mustard, W. P. "Poor Richard's Poetry,"Nation, LXXXII, 239, 279 (March 22, April 5, 1906). (Indicates Franklin's borrowings from Dryden, Pope, Prior, Gay, Swift, and others.)
Nichols, E. L. "Franklin as a Man of Science,"Independent, LX, 79-84 (Jan. 11, 1906). (Franklin's mind "turned ever by preference to the utilitarian and away from the theoretical and speculative aspects of things.")
"Notice sur Benjamin Franklin," inŒuvres posthumes de Cabanis. Paris: 1825, pp. 219-74. (Representative in its rapturous eulogy.)
Oberholtzer, E. P.The Literary History of Philadelphia.Philadelphia: 1906. (Chap. II, "The Age of Franklin," written with conservative bias, belabors Franklin who as a statesman "was almost as wrong as Paine and Mirabeau." What Voltaire was to France, Franklin was to his native city and state.)
Oswald, J. C.Benjamin Franklin in Oil and Bronze.New York: 1926. ("Probably the features and form of no man who ever lived were delineated so frequently and in such a variety of ways as were those of Benjamin Franklin." Best survey of its kind, including many excellent reproductions.)
Oswald, J. C.Benjamin Franklin, Printer.Garden City, N. Y.: 1917. (Fullest and ablest account of this phase of Franklin's life.)
Owen, E. D. "Where Did Benjamin Franklin Get the Idea for His Academy?"Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, LVIII, 86-94 (Jan., 1934). (Inconclusive evidence attributing it to Dr. Philip Doddridge.)
*Parker, Theodore. "Benjamin Franklin," inHistoric Americans. Ed. with notes by S. A. Eliot. Boston: 1908 [written in 1858]. (Franklin "thinks, investigates, theorizes, invents, but never does he dream." Although Parker, an idealist and reformer, exalts "the sharp outline of his [Franklin's] exact idea," his humanitarianism, his combining the "rare excellence of Socrates and Bacon" in making things "easy for all to handle and comprehend," he concludes that Franklin is "a saint devoted to the almighty dollar." There are few more readable estimates.)
*Parrington, V. L. "Benjamin Franklin," inThe Colonial Mind, 1620-1800. New York: 1927, pp. 164-78. (Emphasizes Franklin's tendencies toward agrarian democracy; Parrington's indifference to the genetic approach and his chronic economic determinism lead him to slight the primary importance of Franklin's religious and philosophic views in conditioning his other activities.)
Pennington, E. L. "The Work of the Bray Associates in Pennsylvania,"Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, LVIII, 1-25 (Jan., 1934). (Franklin's humanitarian interest in negro education. In 1758 he writes from London urging school for instructing young Negroes in Philadelphia.)
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, XXV, 307-22, 516-26 (1901), XXVI, 81-90, 255-64 (1902). (Reprints one of Dean Tucker's pamphlets with Franklin's annotations. Casts light on Franklin's loyalty to the Crown, while rebellious against Parliament.)
Potamian, Brother, and Walsh, J. J.Makers of Electricity.New York: 1909. ("Franklin and Some Contemporaries," chapter II, pp. 68-132, by Brother Potamian, is an excellent survey of Franklin's contributions to the science of electricity.)
Powell, E. P. "A Study of Benjamin Franklin,"Arena, VIII, 477-91 (Sept., 1893). (Fair survey of Franklin as a diplomatist.)
Priestley, J.The History and Present State of Electricity, with Original Experiments.London: 1767. (Many notes observing Franklin's "truly philosophical greatness of mind." Preface contains suggestive generalizations concerning function of the natural philosopher: especially, he who experiments in electricity discerns laws of nature, "that is, of the God of nature himself.")
Rava, Luigi. "La fortuna di Beniamino Franklin in Italia," Prefazione al volumeBeniamino Franklindi Lawrence Shaw Mayo. Firenze: n.d.
Repplier, Emma. "Franklin's Trials as a Benefactor,"Lippincott's Magazine, LXXVII, 63-70 (Jan., 1906). (Concerning those who during the Revolution wrote Franklin for favors and places.)
Riddell, W. R. "Benjamin Franklin and Colonial Money,"Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, LIV, 52-64 (Jan., 1930).
Riddell, W. R. "Benjamin Franklin's Mission to Canada and the Causes of Its Failure,"Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, XLVIII, 111-58 (April, 1924).
*Riley, I. W.American Philosophy: The Early Schools.New York: 1907, pp. 229-65. (Conventional view of Franklin's deism; with C. M. Walsh [see below], Riley overemphasizes influence of Plato on Franklin's thought.)
Riley, I. W.American Thought from Puritanism to Pragmatism and Beyond.New York: 1915, pp. 68-77. (Graphic glimpses of "most precocious of the American skeptics.")
Rosengarten, J. G. "The American Philosophical Society," reprinted fromFounders' Week Memorial Volume. Philadelphia: 1908.
Ross, E. D. "Benjamin Franklin as an Eighteenth-Century Agriculture Leader,"Journal of Political Economy, XXXVII, 52-72 (Feb., 1929). (No "rural sentimentalist," Franklin experimented in agriculture, particularly during 1747-1755, as a utilitarian idealist. Quotes one who suggests Franklin was "half physiocratic before the rise of the physiocratic school." Excellent and well-documented survey.)
Sachse, J. F.Benjamin Franklin as a Free Mason.Philadelphia: 1906. ("To write the history of Franklin as a Freemason is virtually to chronicle the early Masonic history of America." Soundly documented survey. Includes useful chronological table of Franklin's Masonic activities.)
*Sainte-Beuve, C. A.Portraits of the Eighteenth Century.Tr. by K. P. Wormeley, with a critical introduction by E. Scherer. New York: 1905. I, 311-75. (The two essays on Franklin inCauseries du lundiare "here put together," though with no important omissions from either. Brilliant portrait of the "most gracious, smiling, and persuasive utilitarian," one who assigned "no part to human imagination.")
Seipp, Erika.Benjamin Franklins Religion und Ethik.Darmstadt: 1932. (Suggestive, though brief, view of Franklin's deism and utilitarianism. Attempts to see his thought in reference to various representative deists. This is not, however, a "source" study.)
Shepherd, W. R.History of Proprietary Government in Pennsylvania.New York: 1896. (Franklin emerges as "a sort of tribune to the people," a "mighty Goliath," a "plague" in the eyes of the feudalistic rulers of Pennsylvania, "a huge fief." Author relatively unsympathetic to Franklin.)
*Sherman, S. P. "Franklin and the Age of Enlightenment," inAmericans. New York: 1922, pp. 28-62. (Penetrating survey and estimate.)
Smith, William, D.D.Eulogium on Benjamin Franklin.Philadelphia: 1792. (One agrees with P. L. Ford, that this work "forms a somewhat amusing contrast to the savageness of the Doctor's earlier writings against Franklin." Bombastic in its rhetoric and eulogy.)
Smythe, J. H., Jr., comp.The Amazing Benjamin Franklin.New York: 1929. (Anthology of brief, popular estimates. If individual notes are trivial, the collection illustrates Franklin's many-mindedness, a Renaissance versatility.)
Sonneck, O. G. "Benjamin Franklin's Relation to Music,"Music, XIX, 1-14 (Nov., 1900).
Steell, Willis.Benjamin Franklin of Paris, 1776-1785.New York: 1928. (An undocumented, partly imaginative, popular account.)
Stifler, J. M.The Religion of Benjamin Franklin.New York: 1925. (Popular survey. Warm appreciation of Franklin'spenchantfor projects of a humanitarian sort.)
Stuber, Henry. "Life of Franklin" [a biography meant as a continuation of Franklin'sAutobiography], inColumbian Magazine and Universal Asylum, May, July, September, October, November, 1790, and February, March, May, June, 1791.
*Thorpe, F. N., ed.Benjamin Franklin and the University of Pennsylvania.U. S. Bureau of Education, Circular of Information, No. 2 (1892). Washington: 1893. (See especially chapters I, II, written by Thorpe, which deal particularly with Franklin's ideas of self and formal education.)
Titus, Rev. Anson. "Boston When Ben Franklin Was a Boy,"Proceedings of the Bostonian Society, pp. 55-72 (1906). (Brief suggestive view of the climate of opinion with regard to inoculation, Newtonianism, and Lockian sensationalism.)
Trent, W. P. "Benjamin Franklin,"McClure's Magazine, VIII, 273-7 (Jan., 1897). ("The most complete representative of his century that any nation can point to." Franklin "thoroughly represents his age in its practicality, in its devotion to science, in its intellectual curiosity, in its humanitarianism, in its lack of spirituality, in its calm self-content—in short, in its exaltation of prose and reason over poetry and faith." An enthusiastic and wise account.)
Trowbridge, John. "Franklin as a Scientist,"Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, XVIII (1917). (Excellent appreciation of Franklin's capacity for inductive reasoning.)
Tuckerman, H. T. "Character of Franklin,"North American Review, LXXXIII, 402-22 (Oct., 1856). (Praises disinterestedness of Franklin as a scientist, as "one whom Bacon would have hailed as a disciple," although he "is not adapted to beguile us 'along the line of infinite desires.'")
Tudury, M. "Poor Richard,"Bookman, LXIV, 581-4 (Jan., 1927). (Popular glance at "cynical patriarch of American letters.")
Typothetae Bulletin, XXII, No. 15 (Jan. 11, 1926). (Issue devoted to the printer Franklin.)
Vicq d'Azyr, Félix.Éloge de Franklin.N.p.: 1791.
Victory, Beatrice M.Benjamin Franklin and Germany.Americana Germanica series, No. 21. Press of the University of Pennsylvania: 1915. (Sources reflecting Franklin's reputation in Germany of particular interest.)
Walsh, C. M. "Franklin and Plato,"Open Court, XX, 129-33 (March, 1906). (An attempt to interpret hisArticles of Belief, 1728, in terms of theTimaeus,Protagoras,Republic, andEuthyphro.)
Webster, Noah.Dissertations on the English Language: With Notes, Historical and Critical. To which is added, By Way of Appendix, an Essay on a Reformed Mode of Spelling, with Dr. Franklins Arguments on that Subject.Boston: 1789. (Notable remarks on Franklin's perspicuous and correct style which is "plain and elegantly neat": he "writes for the child as well as the philosopher.")