Book Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. Uniform title: Autobiography ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Junior Scholastic, published by Thomson Gale on October 31, 2005. The length of the article is 619 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790: man of many talents.(Biography)
Author: Suzanne McCabe
Publication: Junior Scholastic (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 31, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 108Issue: 6Page: NA

Article Type: Biography

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Book Description
Statesman, scientist, philosopher, printer, and civic leader, Benjamin Franklin was also the most powerful writer of his time. From his first appearance in print, in the guise of the eccentric, opinionated, voluble "Silence Dogood" (1722), to his last published article, a searing satire against slavery (1790), he covered every aspect of "the question of America" with radiant clarity, wit, and penetration.

This collection begins with items written by Franklin during his early years in Boston and London (1722- 1726), including the complete "Silence Dogood" essay series. The volume also includes the famous "Busy-Body" essays (1728-1729); many of the news articles and essays he penned after he purchased the failing Pennsylvania Gazette (which eventually became the most widely read newspaper in the colonies); and various political satires, pamphlets, and personal correspondence written while he lived in Philadelphia from 1726 to 1757. The book concludes with material he published while a diplomat in London from 1757 to 1775 (including letters to the press, satires, and pamphlets).

Controversial in his own time, and the subject of vigorous debate ever since-to Matthew Arnold he exemplified "victorious good sense," while to D. H. Lawrence he was "the first dummy American"-Franklin emerges in this collection as a figure of extraordinary complexity for readers to discover, consider, and appreciate anew.

A companion volume includes Poor Richard's Almanack, Franklin's classic Autobiography, and his later writings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The earlier writings of one of our nation's most important founders
The wonderful Library of America (I hope all of you support it as well as buy their fabulous volumes) decided to split the 1,600 plus pages of their volume of the writings of Benjamin Franklin into two volumes.This first volume contains the earlier materials.It includes the famous Silence Dogood articles, the "Busy Body" essays, articles from his influential paper "The Pennsylvania Gazette", as well as other pamphlets, and miscellaneous writings.It concludes with some of the material he wrote while in London as a diplomat.My fear is that the second volume will be more popular because the material is more familiar.However, Franlin's earlier writings are quite important and should be read and valued just as highly.

Benjamin Franklin is one of the great icons of the American Founding.He is truly one of the essential men who built our nation and deserves every praise we can heap on him.When we see images of the founders, they are all shown as old men, not how old they were in 1776.Franklin was really a generation older than most of the firebrands who led the Revolution.He was seventy when he signed the Declaration of Independence (John Adams was 41, George Washington 44, and Thomas Jefferson 33 on July 4, 1776) and eighty-one when he signed our Constitution as a member of the delegation from Pennsylvania.He was an amazing man.He was a successful printer, inventor, philanthropist, revolutionary, diplomat, and all around student of the world.

This book is interesting to dip into and read just those portions that interest you, as well as reading its more than 800 pages front to back.It has great notes on the text that provide contextual and translation help as well as sources, a most interesting chronology of Franklin's long and productive life, and an index.

This certainly is a must have for your shelf on the history of America's Founding. ... Read more

Book Description
This little boardbook uses approximately 200 words to introduce young children to one of America's most fascinating historical figures. Franklin was the only man to sign the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Treaty of Paris. Stephanie Britt's gently humorous illustrations make this boardbook fun for the young child. ... Read more