Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin

Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin

OTHER WRITINGS INCLUDE: A RECEIPT TO MAKE A NEW ENGLAND FUNERAL ELEGY; ADVICE TO A FRIEND ON CHOOSING A MISTRESS; THE SPEECH OF MISS POLLY BAKER; HOW TO SECURE HOUSES, &C. FROM LIGHTNING; THE KITE EXPERIMENT; THE WAY TO WEALTH; AN EDICT BY THE KING OF PRUSSIA; THE MORALS OF CHESS (EXCERPT); THE ELYSIAN FIELDS; INFORMATION TO THOSE WHO WOULD REMOVE TO AMERICA (EXCERPT); AN ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC FROM THE PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY; A MISCELLANY OF FRANKLIN'S OPINIONS.

Benjamin Franklin, statesman, philosopher, and man of letters, was born in Boston in 1706 of Protestant parents. He entered Boston Grammar School when he was eight and later attended George Brown Ell's school. When he was twelve his father apprenticed him to his half-brother James as a printer. James was later the publisher of the New England Courant, where Franklin's first articles, The Dogood Papers, were published before he was seventeen. He went to Philadelphia in 1723 and pursued his trade of printer. He was befriended by William Keith, Governor of Pennsylvania, who offered to help the young man get started in business. Franklin left for England, where he hoped to arrange for the purchase of printing equipment. Arriving in London in 1724, he was soon deserted by Keith, and again turned to printing for a livelihood. His privately printed Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain (1725) introduced him to leading Deists and other intellectuals in London. A year later, he returned to Philadelphia, and by 1730 he had been appointed public printer for Pennsylvania. In 1731 he established the first circulation library in the United States; in 1743-44, The American Philosophical Society. In 1748 he retired from the trade of printer but continued to advise and back his partner and to draw profit from the business. Poor Richard's Almanack was his most spectacular success as a publisher, having gone through numerous editions and been translated in many languages. During the next thirty-five years he devoted himself largely to politics and diplomacy, but still wrote and engaged in scientific ventures. He resigned as Minister to France in 1785, returned to America, and was elected President of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Still concerned with the rights of the individual, he published papers encouraging the abolition of slavery. He died in Philadelphia in 1790.

Larzer Ziff is a research professor of English at Johns Hopkins University who has written extensively on American literary culture.

SKU	Non disponible
ISBN 13	9780140390520
ISBN 10	0140390529
Titre	Autobiography
Auteur	Benjamin Franklin
Série	Classics
État	Non disponible
Type de reliure	Paperback
Éditeur	Penguin Books Ltd
Année de publication	1986-05-29
Nombre de pages	304
Note de couverture	La photo du livre est présentée à titre d'illustration uniquement. La reliure, la couverture ou l'édition réelle peuvent varier.
Note	Non disponible