EIS LIBRIS
IV

Franklin's Philadelphia

The Electrical Philosophy, the Politics, and the Making of a Republic
The Soiferman Collection · Catalog IV

Foreword

THE catalogs that precede this one follow Benjamin Rush through the epidemic and the friendship, and Benjamin Franklin through the press. This fourth volume turns to Franklin after the press: the natural philosopher, the politician, and the sage. Benjamin Franklin arrived in Philadelphia in October 1723 with a Dutch dollar and a shilling in copper. By the time Rush was born in 1746, Franklin had printed the laws of three provinces, founded a library, a fire company, a philosophical society, and an academy, and was about to give up the press altogether to pursue the question that would make him the most famous man in the world: what lightning was.

The press is in Catalog III. Here the Soiferman Collection holds the electrical philosophy as Europe read it: the London editions, the French, the German, the Italian, and the apparatus that put the theory into practice. And it holds the politics: the Assembly fights of 1764, the Stamp Act and its repeal, the Revolution as seen from Boston, New York, and Paris.

As in the earlier catalogs, the objects are placed where the story reaches them, and the story is the point. A reader who wants to know what it was like to open a letter from Peter Collinson in 1751, or to hear that the Stamp Act was dead, or to be America in a fur cap at Versailles, should begin at the beginning.

He explained the sky to Europe, and then talked Europe into a war.

Contents

3 chapters and a coda

  1. CHAPTER I

    The Electrical Philosophy

    Letters to Peter Collinson and the Making of a Reputation, 1747–1774
    8 objects
  2. CHAPTER II

    The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern

    Franklin in Politics, 1764–1776
    14 objects
  3. CHAPTER III

    The Sage of Passy and the Memory of Franklin

    Paris, the Autobiography, and the Afterlife, 1776–1818
    12 objects
  4. CODA

    What the Printer Left

    0 objects

Checklist of works

Every object in Catalog IV

Cat.ObjectChapterAccession
IV.AExpériences et Observations sur l'Électricité faites à Philadelphie en Amérique
Franklin, Benjamin; translated by Thomas-François Dalibard		The Electrical PhilosophyBF-2021.002
IV.BExperiments and Observations on Electricity, Made at Philadelphia in America
Franklin, Benjamin		The Electrical PhilosophyBF-2025.017
IV.CExperiments and Observations on Electricity, Made at Philadelphia in America
Franklin, Benjamin		The Electrical Philosophy
IV.DDes Herrn Benjamin Franklins Esq. Briefe von der Elektricität
Franklin, Benjamin		The Electrical Philosophy
IV.ETrattato Completo d'Elettricità Teorica e Pratica
Cavallo, Tiberius		The Electrical Philosophy
IV.FA Magic Square of Squares
Franklin, Benjamin		The Electrical Philosophy
IV.GTransactions of the American Philosophical Society, Volume I
American Philosophical Society		The Electrical Philosophy
IV.HDescription of the Improvements of the Rarifying Air-Stove, for Warming and Ventilating Hospitals, Churches, Colleges
Pettibone, Daniel		The Electrical Philosophy
IV.I[The Paxton Boys] An Eyewitness Report on the Paxton Massacre
Anonymous		The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern
IV.JA Declaration and Remonstrance of the Distressed and Bleeding Frontier Inhabitants of the Province of Pennsylvania
[Smith, Matthew, and James Gibson]		The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern
IV.KThe Speech of Joseph Galloway, Esq.
Galloway, Joseph; preface by Benjamin Franklin		The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern
IV.LA True and Impartial State of the Province of Pennsylvania
[Franklin, Benjamin, or Joseph Galloway]		The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern
IV.MAmerican Tax Stamp, One Shilling
British Stamp Office		The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern
IV.NAnno Regni Georgii III: An Act to Repeal an Act … for Granting Certain Stamp Duties
Parliament of Great Britain		The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern
IV.OThe Repeal, or the Funeral Procession of Miss Americ-Stamp
After Benjamin Wilson		The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern
IV.PLiberty Tree Lantern
Boston		The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern
IV.QA View of the Obelisk Erected under Liberty-Tree in Boston on the Rejoicings for the Repeal of the Stamp Act
Revere, Paul		The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern
IV.RThe Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King-Street, Boston, on March 5th, 1770
Hale, Richard, after Paul Revere		The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern
IV.SAutograph Letter Signed, to Thomas Wharton
Franklin, William		The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern
IV.TThe Writings of Thomas Paine
Paine, Thomas		The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern
IV.UJournals of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with the Declaration and Articles
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania		The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern
IV.VLa Destruction de la Statue Royale à Nouvelle Yorck
French school		The Assembly, the Stamp, and the Lantern
IV.WTreaty of Amity and Commerce between His Majesty the King of Sweden and the United States
Franklin, Benjamin, negotiator		The Sage of Passy and the Memory of Franklin
IV.XCorrespondance Inédite et Secrète du Docteur B. Franklin
Franklin, Benjamin		The Sage of Passy and the Memory of Franklin
IV.YApologie pour l'Ordre des Francs-Maçons
[Natter, Johann Lorenz]		The Sage of Passy and the Memory of Franklin
IV.ZScelta di Lettere e di Opuscoli del Signor Beniamino Franklin
Franklin, Benjamin; edited by Carlo Giuseppe Campi		The Sage of Passy and the Memory of Franklin
IV.AALa Science du Bonhomme Richard, ou Moyen Facile de Payer les Impôts
[Franklin, Benjamin]		The Sage of Passy and the Memory of Franklin
IV.ABThe Way to Wealth, or Poor Richard Improved
Franklin, Benjamin		The Sage of Passy and the Memory of FranklinBF-2022.033
IV.ACMémoires de la Vie Privée de Benjamin Franklin, Écrits par Lui-Même et Adressés à Son Fils
Franklin, Benjamin		The Sage of Passy and the Memory of Franklin
IV.ADThe Life of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Written by Himself
Franklin, Benjamin		The Sage of Passy and the Memory of Franklin
IV.AEThe Private Correspondence of Benjamin Franklin, Published from the Originals by His Grandson
Franklin, Benjamin; edited by William Temple Franklin		The Sage of Passy and the Memory of Franklin
IV.AFMemoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin
Franklin, Benjamin; edited by William Temple Franklin		The Sage of Passy and the Memory of Franklin
IV.AGPartial Letter Signed
Franklin, Deborah Read		The Sage of Passy and the Memory of Franklin
IV.AHPhiladelphia Contributionship Fire Mark
Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire		The Sage of Passy and the Memory of Franklin