Bibliography of Benjamin Franklin

This is a comprehensive list of primary and secondary works by or about Benjamin Franklin, one of the principal Founding Fathers of the United States. Works about Franklin have been consistently published during and after Franklin's life, spanning four centuries, and continue to appear in present-day publications. Scholarly works that are not necessarily subject-specific to Franklin, yet cover his life and efforts in significant measure, may also be included here. In contrast, this bibliography does not include the numerous encyclopedia articles and short essays about Franklin.

  Benjamin Franklin
1706–1790  

Biographical

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18th century

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  • Smith, William (1792). Eulogium on Benjamin Franklin. Philadelphia: Printed by Benjamin Franklin Bache. delivered March 1, 1791, in the German Lutheran Church of the city of Philadelphia, before the American Philosophical Society

19th century

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20th century

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21st century

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Historical journals

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20th-century

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  • Abbe, Cleveland (September 1906). "Benjamin Franklin as Meteorologist". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 45 (183). American Philosophical Society: 117–128. JSTOR 983821.
  • Allan, D. G. C. (September 2000). ""Dear and Serviceable to Each Other": Benjamin Franklin and the Royal Society of Arts". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 144 (3). American Philosophical Society: 245–266. JSTOR 1515588.
  • Baldwin, Ernest H. (1902). "Joseph Galloway, the Loyalist Politician". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 26 (2). University of Pennsylvania Press: 161–191. JSTOR 20086024. — Covers the relationship between Franklin and Galloway extensively
  • —— (1902). "Joseph Galloway, the Loyalist Politician, concluded". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 26 (4). University of Pennsylvania Press: 417–442. JSTOR /20086051. — Covers the relationship between Franklin and Galloway extensively
  • Bell, Whitfield Jr. (1980). "Leonard Woods Labaree". Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 92. Massachusetts Historical Society: 156–160. JSTOR 25080876.
  • Bemis, Samuel Flagg (April 1924). "British Secret Service and the French-American Alliance". The American Historical Review. 29 (3). Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association: 474–495. doi:10.2307/1836521. JSTOR 1836521.
  • Buranelli, Vincent (July 1959). "Colonial Philosophy". The William and Mary Quarterly. 16 (3). Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture: 343–362. doi:10.2307/1916949. JSTOR 1916949. No history of colonial philosophy could possibly be complete without Franklin.
  • Campbell, James (Fall 1995). "The Pragmatism of Benjamin Franklin". Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society. 31 (4). Indiana University Press: 745–792. JSTOR 40320571.
  • Dull, Jonathan R. (1982). "Franklin the Diplomat: The French Mission". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 72 (1). American Philosophical Society: 1–76. doi:10.2307/1006441. JSTOR 1006441.
  • —— (August 1983). "Benjamin Franklin and the Nature of American Diplomacy". The International History Review. 5 (3). Taylor & Francis, Ltd.: 246–363. doi:10.1080/07075332.1983.9640319. JSTOR 40105314.
  • Eliot, Thomas D. (March 1924). "The Relations between Adam Smith and Benjamin Franklin before 1776". Political Science Quarterly. 39 (1). The Academy of Political Science: 67–96. doi:10.2307/2142684. JSTOR 2142684.
  • Greene, Jack P. (January 1976). "The alienation of Benjamin Franklin - British American". Journal of the Royal Society of Arts. 124 (5234). Royal Society of Arts: 52–73. JSTOR 41372264.
  • Jones, R. V. (January 1977). "Benjamin Franklin". Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. 31 (2). Royal Society: 201–225. doi:10.1098/rsnr.1977.0013. JSTOR 531827. S2CID 202575276.
  • Knollenberg, Bernhard (July 1951). "Benjamin Franklin and Yale". The Yale University Library Gazette. 26 (1). Yale University, acting through the Yale University Library: 22–27. JSTOR 40857520.
  • Korty, Margaret Barton (1965). "Benjamin Franklin and Eighteenth-Century American Libraries". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 55 (9). American Philosophical Society: 1–83. doi:10.2307/1006049. JSTOR 1006049.
  • Labaree, Leonard W.; Bell Jr., Whitfield J. (December 19, 1957). "The Papers of Benjamin Franklin: A Progress Report". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 101 (6). American Philosophical Society: 532–534. JSTOR 985521.
  • Larson, David M. (April 1986). "Benevolent Persuasion: The Art of Benjamin Franklin's Philanthropic Papers". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 110 (2). University of Pennsylvania Press: 195–217. JSTOR 20091995.
  • Lingelbach, William E. (December 1955). "Benjamin Franklin's Papers and the American Philosophical Society". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 99 (6). American Philosophical Society: 359–380. JSTOR 3143918.
  • —— (August 31, 1956). "Benjamin Franklin and the American Philosophical Society in 1956". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 100 (4). American Philosophical Society: 354–368. JSTOR 3143765.
  • Malone, Kemp (November 1925). "Benjamin Franklin on Spelling Reform". American Speech. 1 (2). Duke University Press: 96–100. doi:10.2307/452554. JSTOR 452554.
  • Maestro, Marcello (July–September 1975). "Benjamin Franklin and the Penal Laws". Journal of the History of Ideas. 36 (3). University of Pennsylvania Press: 551–562. doi:10.2307/2708664. JSTOR 2708664.
  • Mathews, L. K. (August 1914). "Benjamin Franklin's Plans for a Colonial Union, 1750-1775". The American Political Science Review. 8 (3). American Political Science Association: 393–412. doi:10.2307/1946173. JSTOR 1946173. S2CID 147320261.
  • McCoy, Drew R. (October 1978). "Benjamin Franklin's Vision of a Republican Political Economy for America". The William and Mary Quarterly. 35 (4). Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture: 605–628. doi:10.2307/1923207. JSTOR 1923207.
  • Morgan, David T. (Summer 1984). "A New Look at Benjamin Franklin as Georgia's Colonial Agent". The Georgia Historical Quarterly. 68 (2). Georgia Historical Society: 221–232. JSTOR 40581223.
  • "The Commissions of Georgia to Benjamin Franklin to act as colonial agent". The Georgia Historical Quarterly. 2 (3). Georgia Historical Society: 150–164. September 1918. JSTOR 40575589.
  • Pace, Antonio (June 1950). "Benjamin Franklin and Italy since the Eighteenth Century". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 94 (3). American Philosophical Society: 242–250. JSTOR 3143557.
  • Pierson, George W. (December 1980). "In Memoriam: Leonard Woods Labaree (1897-1980)". The New England Quarterly. 53 (4): 544–546. JSTOR 365496.
  • Philbrick, Francis S. (October 1953). "Notes on Early Editions and Editors of Franklin". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 97 (5). American Philosophical Society: 524–564. JSTOR 3149269.
  • Read, Conyers (July 1940). "The English Elements in Benjamin Franklin". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 64 (3). University of Pennsylvania Press: 314–330. JSTOR 20087299.
  • Reynolds, David S. (Spring 1998). "Walt Whitman: Benjamin Franklin's Representative Man". Modern Language Studies. 28 (2): 29–39. doi:10.2307/3195297. JSTOR 3195297.
  • McCoy, Drew R. (October 1978). "Benjamin Franklin's Vision of a Republican Political Economy for America". The William and Mary Quarterly. 34 (4). Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture: 605–628. doi:10.2307/1923207. JSTOR 1923207.
  • Ross, Earle D. (February 1929). "Benjamin Franklin as an Eighteenth-Century Agricultural Leader". Journal of Political Economy. 37 (1). The University of Chicago Press: 52–72. doi:10.1086/253996. JSTOR 1822320. S2CID 153895640.
  • Rossiter, Clinton (July 1952). "The Political Theory of Benjamin Franklin". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 78 (3). University of Pennsylvania Press: 259–293. JSTOR 20088376.
  • Schiller, Andrew (December 1958). "Franklin as a Music Critic". The New England Quarterly. 31 (4). The New England Quarterly, Inc.: 504–514. doi:10.2307/362382. JSTOR 362382.
  • Shelling, Richard I. (July 1939). "Benjamin Franklin and the Dr. Bray Associates". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 63 (3). University of Pennsylvania Press: 382–293. JSTOR 20087193.
  • Skemp, Sheila L. (April 1885). "William Franklin: His Father's Son". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 109 (2). University of Pennsylvania Press: 145–178. JSTOR 20091919.
  • Steiner, Prudence L. (June 1987). "Benjamin Franklin's Biblical Hoaxes". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 133 (2). American Philosophical Society: 183–196. JSTOR 986791.
  • Spiller, Robert E. (August 1956). "Franklin on the Art of Being Human". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 100 (4). American Philosophical Society: 304–315. JSTOR 3143756.
  • Wecter, Dixon (May 1940). "Francis Hopkinson and Benjamin Franklin". American Literature. 12 (2). Duke University Press: 200–217. doi:10.2307/2920477. JSTOR 2920477.
  • Wecter, Dixon (January 1941). "Benjamin Franklin and an Irish "Enthusiast"". Huntington Library Quarterly. 4 (2). University of Pennsylvania Press: 205–234. doi:10.2307/3815849. JSTOR 3815849.
  • Weintraub, Karl J (July 1976). "The Puritan Ethic and Benjamin Franklin". The Journal of Religion. 58 (3). The University of Chicago Press: 223–237. doi:10.1086/486491. JSTOR 1201929. S2CID 170904007.
  • Weisberger, R. William (July 1986). "Benjamin Franklin: A Masonic Enlightener in Paris". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 53 (3). Penn State University Press: 165–180. JSTOR 27773110.
  • Woodburn, James A. (September 1934). "Benjamin Franklin and the Peace Treaty of 1783". Indiana Magazine of History. 30 (3). Indiana University Press: 223–237. JSTOR 27786674.

21st-century

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  • Atiyah, Michael (December 2006). "Benjamin Franklin and the Edinburgh Enlightenment". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 150 (4). American Philosophical Society: 591–606. JSTOR 4599027.
  • Heilbron, J. L. (September 2007). "Benjamin Franklin in Europe: Electrician, Academician, Politician". Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. 61 (3). Royal Society: 353–373. doi:10.1098/rsnr.2007.0021. JSTOR 20462640. S2CID 145783155.
  • Kulikoff, Allan (Summer 2014). "Silence Dogood and the Leather-Apron Men". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 81 (3). Penn State University Press: 364–374. doi:10.5325/pennhistory.81.3.0364. JSTOR 10.5325/pennhistory.81.3.0364. S2CID 186376610.
  • Meyers, Terry L. (December 2010). "Benjamin Franklin, the College of William and Mary, and the Williamsburg Bray School". Anglican and Episcopal History. 79 (4). Historical Society of the Episcopal Church: 368–393. JSTOR 42612683.
  • Prince, Sue Ann; Blumberg, Baruch S.; Gordin, Michael D.; Marrese, Michelle Lamarche; Levitt, Marcus C.; Duval, Karen; Woronzoff-Dashkoff, Alexander; Dolgova, Svetlana Romanova; Cross, Anthony; Stolbova, Elena Igorevna (2006). Price, Sue Ann (ed.). "The Princess & the Patriot: Ekaterina Dashkova, Benjamin Franklin, and the Age of Enlightenment". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 96 (1). American Philosophical Society: i–v, vii–viii, xv–xix, 1–67, 69, 71–77, 79–129. doi:10.2307/20020395. JSTOR 20020395.
  • Nash, Gary B. (December 2006). "Franklin and Slavery". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 150 (4). American Philosophical Society: 618–638. JSTOR 4599029.
  • Newman, Simon P. (August 2009). "Benjamin Franklin and the Leather-Apron Men: The Politics of Class in Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia". Journal of American Studies. 43 (2). Cambridge University Press: 161–175. doi:10.1017/S0021875809990089. JSTOR 40464376. S2CID 145495587.
  • Rosenthal, Karen M. (2016). "A Generative Populace: Benjamin Franklin's Economic Agendas". Early American Literature. 41 (3). University of North Carolina Press: 571–598. doi:10.1353/eal.2016.0047. JSTOR 95000884. S2CID 164699680.
  • Slack, Kevin (October 2013). "On the Origins and Intention of Benjamin Franklin's "On the Providence of God in the Government of the World"". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 137 (4). University of Pennsylvania Press: 345–379. doi:10.5215/pennmaghistbio.137.4.0345. JSTOR 10.5215/pennmaghistbio.137.4.0345. S2CID 148032085.
  • Waligore, Joseph (January 2016). "The Christian Deist Writings of Benjamin Franklin". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 140 (1). University of Pennsylvania Press: 7–29. doi:10.5215/pennmaghistbio.140.1.0007. JSTOR 10.5215/pennmaghistbio.140.1.0007. S2CID 148846618.
  • Weinberger, Jerry (2008). "Benjamin Franklin: Philosopher of Progress". The Good Society. 17 (1). Penn State University Press: 20–25. doi:10.2307/20711278. JSTOR 20711278.

Letters and writings

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Cameo Medallion of Benjamin Franklin, Presented to The American Philosophical Society, by Sir George Darwin, April 18, 1906. Printed in the several volumes of Calendar of the papers of Benjamin Franklin[1]

During Franklin's lifetime he corresponded with hundreds of people, especially during the revolutionary era. Historian Carl Becker says of Franklin that he "was acquainted personally or through correspondence with more men of eminence in letters, science and politics than any other man of his time".[2]

Works about Franklin's papers

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Publisher and printer

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Poor Richard's Almanack, authored, printed and published by Franklin

Most of Franklin's biographers cover his printing and publishing involvements in varying proportions, while other works focus on this idea entirely. Franklin's early and mid life was greatly involved in that effort, beginning as an apprentice in the Boston print shop of his brother, James Franklin. He soon acquired and became the editor of The Pennsylvania Gazette[3][4] and began publishing Poor Richard's Almanack. Franklin also brought innovations to the printing trade, helped to establish paper mills,[5] and introduced new an improved printing type to colonial printers.[6][7][8] During his career he took on various apprentices,[9] and helped establish other upstart printers. Franklin's persistent efforts subsequently brought him favorable notoriety in printing and publishing circles, and a good measure of wealth by mid-life,[10] inspiring him to write, The Way to Wealth in 1758.[11][12]

Inventor, scientist

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Franklin was widely considered by his contemporaries and others to be the best scientist in his time. He became curious about scientific phenomena as a youth, didn't pursue the field for pecuniary purposes, and rarely patented his inventions.[13] Many of Franklin's scientific pursuits, mostly involving electricity, occurred while he was in England, where was made a member of the Royal Society[14] and worked with scientists like John Canton,[15] Peter Collinson, Johann Friedrich, John Hadley, Georg Wilhelm Richmann and Joseph Priestley, a well-known scientist in his own right who worked closely with Franklin, and did much to spread his fame.[16][17][18]

Primary sources

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Autobiography

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Many editions of Franklin's autobiography have been published over the years, some with letters, writings and other related material authored by Franklin. Franklin's original manuscript of his autobiography, written in French, was not published while Franklin was alive and had disappeared sometime after his death. It was later discovered by Edouard Laboulaye and purchased by John Bigelow for 25,000 franks, who published it in 1868.[20]

The Papers of Benjamin Franklin

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This collection of Franklin's letters and other works is a collaborative effort by a team of scholars and editors at Yale University and American Philosophical Society and is an ongoing effort which began in 1959, with more than forty volumes published, and is expected to reach upwards near fifty volumes upon completion.[22][23] Those that are available for viewing are listed below.

The Writings of Benjamin Franklin

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The Writings of Benjamin Franklin is a collection of works, edited by Professor Albert Henry Smyth, a past member of the American Historical Society, and published in ten volumes between 1905 and 1907

Further information

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Many of the papers of individuals closely associated with Franklin often offer much information about Franklin.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Editor's Note: "Benjamin Franklin's voice was weak so James Wilson read this speech for him on the final day of the Constitutional Convention, Monday, September 17, 1787. Franklin then moved for the adoption of the Constitution."[19]
  2. ^ Bigelow's edition is not only the first appearance of the autobiography from Franklin's original manuscript, but also the first publication in English of the four parts, and the first publication of the important 'outline' autobiography.--Ford, Franklin bibl., no. 423; 100 copies printed)[21]

Citations

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  1. ^ Hays, 1908
  2. ^ Becker, 1946, p. 33
  3. ^ Thayer, 1864, pp. 78, 91
  4. ^ Isaacson, 2004, pp. 64, 497
  5. ^ Weeks, p. 13, 93
  6. ^ Isaacson, 2004, p. 52
  7. ^ Mulford, 2008, p. 491
  8. ^ Oswald, 1917, pp. 153, 157-159
  9. ^ Frasca, 2006, p. 19
  10. ^ Isaacson, 2004, pp. 94, 481
  11. ^ Frasca, 2006, p. 13, 54
  12. ^ Isaacson, 2004, pp. 326-327
  13. ^ Isaacson, 2004, pp. 2, 19, 129-135
  14. ^ Flavell, 2010, p. 205
  15. ^ Rivers & Wykes, 2008, pp. 53-54
  16. ^ Brands, 2000, pp. 192, 201, 286, 393, 457
  17. ^ Rivers & Wykes, 2008, p. 33
  18. ^ See also: Priestley, 1775, volumes 1 & 2
  19. ^ American Bar Association: Franklin, 2010, p. 64
  20. ^ Clapp, 1947, pp. 260-261
  21. ^ Franklin; Bigelow (ed.), 1868, pp. 7-9
  22. ^ Yale University, Essay
  23. ^ National Archives: Founders Online, Essay

Sources

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