The Private Correspondence of Benjamin Franklin
FRANKLIN, Benjamin. The Private Correspondence of Benjamin Franklin… Published from the Originals, by His Grandson William Temple Franklin. 2 vols. Third edition, with additions. London: Printed for Henry Colburn, 1818. xxiv, 468; xii, 444pp.
Temple Franklin began preparing an authorized edition of his grandfather’s writings as soon as the great man had died and left him his books and manuscripts, but owing to difficulties in finding a publisher and Temple Franklin’s own interest in other ventures, it wasn’t until 1816 that his edition was published, leaving plenty of time for others to speculate and gossip about what Temple Franklin was hiding. Published in three parts (Memoirs, Correspondence, and Works), they nevertheless proved popular and soon went into further editions.
The first appearance of Franklin's private letters, edited at last by the grandson who had held the papers since 1790. Temple Franklin's edition was incomplete, occasionally bowdlerized, and indispensable for a century; the collection's copy sits beside the 1818 <em>Memoirs</em> that finally printed the <em>Autobiography</em> from Franklin's own English.
- Date
- London, 1817
- Author / maker
- Franklin, Benjamin; edited by William Temple Franklin
- Condition
- Paper-covered boards, orig. paper spine laid down, paper spine labels, edges untrimmed. Slight staining to boards, contemporary inscriptions and stamps on front flyleaves, else very good.
- References
- Ford 558. Sabin 25571 (2nd ed.)
