List of primary and secondary works by or about 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.
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
Beers, Henry Augustin (1895). Initial studies in American letters. Meadville, Pa., New York, Flood and Vincent. Franklin's letter writing covered well in this work
Abbe, Cleveland (September 1906). "Benjamin Franklin as Meteorologist". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 45 (183). American Philosophical Society: 117–128. JSTOR983821.
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. JSTOR1515588.
Baldwin, Ernest H. (1902). "Joseph Galloway, the Loyalist Politician". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 26 (2). University of Pennsylvania Press: 161–191. JSTOR20086024. — 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. JSTOR25080876.
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. JSTOR1836521.
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. JSTOR1916949. 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. JSTOR40320571.
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. JSTOR1006441.
—— (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. JSTOR40105314.
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. JSTOR2142684.
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. JSTOR41372264.
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. JSTOR40857520.
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. JSTOR1006049.
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. JSTOR985521.
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. JSTOR20091995.
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. JSTOR3143918.
—— (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. JSTOR3143765.
Malone, Kemp (November 1925). "Benjamin Franklin on Spelling Reform". American Speech. 1 (2). Duke University Press: 96–100. doi:10.2307/452554. JSTOR452554.
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. JSTOR2708664.
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. JSTOR1946173. S2CID147320261.
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. JSTOR1923207.
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. JSTOR40581223.
"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. JSTOR40575589.
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. JSTOR3143557.
Pierson, George W. (December 1980). "In Memoriam: Leonard Woods Labaree (1897-1980)". The New England Quarterly. 53 (4): 544–546. JSTOR365496.
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. JSTOR3149269.
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. JSTOR20087299.
Reynolds, David S. (Spring 1998). "Walt Whitman: Benjamin Franklin's Representative Man". Modern Language Studies. 28 (2): 29–39. doi:10.2307/3195297. JSTOR3195297.
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. JSTOR1923207.
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. JSTOR1822320. S2CID153895640.
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. JSTOR20088376.
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. JSTOR362382.
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. JSTOR20087193.
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. JSTOR20091919.
Steiner, Prudence L. (June 1987). "Benjamin Franklin's Biblical Hoaxes". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 133 (2). American Philosophical Society: 183–196. JSTOR986791.
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. JSTOR3143756.
Wecter, Dixon (May 1940). "Francis Hopkinson and Benjamin Franklin". American Literature. 12 (2). Duke University Press: 200–217. doi:10.2307/2920477. JSTOR2920477.
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. JSTOR3815849.
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. JSTOR1201929. S2CID170904007.
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. JSTOR27773110.
Woodburn, James A. (September 1934). "Benjamin Franklin and the Peace Treaty of 1783". Indiana Magazine of History. 30 (3). Indiana University Press: 223–237. JSTOR27786674.
Atiyah, Michael (December 2006). "Benjamin Franklin and the Edinburgh Enlightenment". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 150 (4). American Philosophical Society: 591–606. JSTOR4599027.
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. JSTOR20462640. S2CID145783155.
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. JSTOR42612683.
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. JSTOR20020395.
Nash, Gary B. (December 2006). "Franklin and Slavery". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 150 (4). American Philosophical Society: 618–638. JSTOR4599029.
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. JSTOR40464376. S2CID145495587.
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. JSTOR90000884. S2CID164699680.
Weinberger, Jerry (2008). "Benjamin Franklin: Philosopher of Progress". The Good Society. 17 (1). Penn State University Press: 20–25. doi:10.2307/20711278. JSTOR20711278.
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]
Bell, Whitfield J. (January 1955). "Franklin Papers and the Papers of Benjamin Franklin". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 22 (1). Penn State University Press: 1–17. JSTOR27769559.
—— (1962). Donovan, Frank Robert (ed.). The Benjamin Franklin papers. New York, Dodd, Mead. (Not to be confused with the subject of this article: Covers Franklin's literary style, use of capitals, italics, contractions, etc.)
Henkels (Firm), Stan. V. (1924). Relics of Benjamin Franklin. Henkels & Sons, auction catalog. Catalog contains letters and artifacts belonging or relating to Franklin
Franklin, Benjamin (1956). Mott, Frank Luther (ed.). Benjamin Franklin on newspapers. Columbia, Mo.: Press of the Crippled Turtle.
Knollenberg, Bernhard (July 1972). "Benjamin Franklin and the Hutchinson and Oliver Letters". The Yale University Library Gazette. 47 (1). Yale University, acting through the Yale University Library: 1–9. JSTOR40858439.
Labaree, Leonard W. (April 1966). "New Franklin Letters". The Yale University Library Gazette. 40 (4). Yale University Library: 188–193. JSTOR40858095.
—— (1891). "Unpublished Letters of Benjamin Franklin". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 15 (1). University of Pennsylvania Press: 35–40. JSTOR20083407.
Wolf, Edwin (First Quarter 1962). "The Reconstruction of Benjamin Franklin's Library: An Unorthodox Jigsaw Puzzle". The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. 56 (1). The University of Chicago Press: 1–16. doi:10.1086/pbsa.56.1.24300972. JSTOR24300972. S2CID194487432.
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]
Brigham, Clarence Saunders (May 1936). "James Franklin and the Beginnings of Printing in Rhode Island". Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 65. Massachusetts Historical Society: 535–544. JSTOR25080308.
Harlan, Robert D. (1974). "David Hall and the Townshend Acts". The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. 68 (1). The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Bibliographical Society of America: 19–38. doi:10.1086/pbsa.68.1.24302418. JSTOR24302418. S2CID163738868. (David Hall was Franklin's newspaper and printing partner)
Lee, James Melvin (1923). History of American journalism. Boston, New York, Houghton Mifflin Company. — Numerous references to Franklin and his brother James in the newspaper and printing business
Lingelbach, William E. (May 5, 1948). "B. Franklin, Printer -- New Source Materials". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 92 (2). American Philosophical Society: 79–100. JSTOR3143405.
Miller, C. William (December 15, 1955). "Franklin's Type: Its Study past and Present". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 99 (6). American Philosophical Society: 418–432. JSTOR3143924.
—— (1961). "Franklin's "Poor Richard Almanacs": Their Printing and Publication". Studies in Bibliography. 14. Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia: 97–115. JSTOR40371300.
Mulford, Carla (December 2008). "Benjamin Franklin's Savage Eloquence: Hoaxes from the Press at Passy, 1782". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 152 (4). American Philosophical Society: 490–530. JSTOR40541605.
Scott, Kenneth (1958). "James Franklin on counterfeiting". Museum Notes (American Numismatic Society). VIII. American Numismatic Society: 217–220. JSTOR43573829.
Zimmerman, John L. (October 1954). "Benjamin Franklin and the Pennsylvania Chronicle". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 81 (4). University of Pennsylvania Press: 351–364. JSTOR20089013.
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]
—— (June 20, 1952). "The Two Hundredth Anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's Two Lightning Experiments and the Introduction of the Lightning Rod". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 96 (3). American Philosophical Society: 321–366. JSTOR3143838.
—— (1956). Franklin and Newton: An Inquiry Into Speculative Newtonian Experimental Science and Franklin's Work in Electricity as an Example Thereof. Harvard University Press.
Jernegan, Marcus W. (April 1928). "Benjamin Franklin's "Electrical Kite" and Lightning Rod". The New England Quarterly. 1 (2): 180–196. doi:10.2307/359764. JSTOR359764.
Mugridge, Donald H. (August 1947). "Scientific Manuscripts of Benjamin Franklin". Quarterly Journal of Current Acquisitions. 4 (4). Library of Congress: 12–21. JSTOR29780476.
Mulford, Carla J. (2016). "Print Journalism and Benjamin Franklin's Scientific Politics". The Yearbook of English Studies. 46. Modern Humanities Research Association: 181–197. doi:10.1353/yes.2016.0013.
Seeger, Raymond J. (May 1959). "Franklin as a physicist". Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. 49 (5). Washington Academy of Sciences: 129–145. JSTOR24534715.
Wallace, Stanley L. (July–August 1968). "Benjamin Franklin and the Introduction of Colchicum Into the United States". Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 42 (4). Johns Hopkins University Press: 312–320. JSTOR44447286. PMID4881500.
Weinberger, Jerry (Winter 2007). "The Scientific Mind of Ben Franklin". The New Atlantis (15). Center for the Study of Technology and Society: 77–91. JSTOR43152306.
Franklin, Benjamin (1793). The private life of the late Benjamin Franklin. London: Printed for J. Parsons, no. 2l, Pater-Noster Row. Originally written by himself and now translated from the French
Franklin, Benjamin (Spring 2010). "Constitutional Convention Speech". Litigation. 36 (3). American Bar Association: 64. JSTOR29760791.[a]
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]
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 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
^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]
^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]