Research Catalog

Title

Franklin on Franklin / [edited by] Paul M. Zall.

Author

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790

Publication

Lexington : University Press of Kentucky, c2000.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Zall, Paul M.

Description

315 p.; 23 cm.

Summary

"Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography ends in 1758, some thirty years before he died. Those three decades included some of the statesman's greatest triumphs, yet instead of including them in his memoir, Franklin spent the years continually revising his original text. Franklin on Franklin stands as the first autobiographical account of a great American life. By returning to a newly recovered early draft of the Autobiography, author Paul M. Zall strips away later layers of moralizing and revision to reveal the story as Franklin first wrote it: how a poor boy from Boston used hard work and his wits to become America's first world-class citizen. To cover Franklin's career as a diplomat and as the only signatory of all three key documents of the American Revolution, Zall interweaves autobiographical comments from Franklin's personal letters and private journals."--Jacket.

Uniform Title

• Autobiography
• Project Muse UPCC books

Alternative Title

Autobiography

Subject

• Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790
• Statesmen > United States > Biography

Genre/Form

• Biographies
• Autobiographies
• Diaries
• Personal correspondence

Note

• The first twenty-three chapters are based on Zall's recovery of Franklin's first draft of his autobiography, and the last six chapters are derived primarily from Franklin's correspondence and journals.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 299-302) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

• Introduction: Ben Franklin revising -- Growing up Bostonian: January 1706-April 1722 -- Becoming a journalist: April 1722-September 1723 -- On the road to Philadelphia: 25 September-1 October 1723 -- Settling at Philadelphia: October 1723-May 1724 -- A prodigal's return to Boston: April 25-June 1724 -- Plotting to deceive & being deceived: June-November 1724 -- Living in London: 25 December 1724-21 July 1726 -- Sailing home: 23 July-11October 1726 -- Facing uncertain Philadelphia future: 1726-1727 -- Venturing into business: May 1728-September 1730 -- Entering business for himself: 1729-1730
• Finding Felicity in Philadelphia: 1731-1732 -- Promoting virtue & views: 1731-1754 -- Taking care of business: 1736-1739 -- Promoting the Great Awakening: 1739-1740 -- Promoting provincial defense: 1740s -- Establishing an academy: 1749 -- Retiring to public service: 1748-1753 -- Experimenting with electricity: 1743-1753 -- Promoting a united front: 1754 -- Soldiering on the frontier: 1756 -- Making a mission to London: 1756-1757 -- Lobbying in London: 1757-1762 -- Skirmishing with Parliament: 1757-1765 -- Coping in a calm: 1766-1770 -- Agitating for all Americans: 1770-1774 -- Failing to reconcile: 1774-1775 -- Forging independence: 1775-1785 -- Free at last: 1785-1790.

ISBN

0813122015 (alk. paper)

LCCN

^^^00012055^

OCLC

• 45248168
• SCSB-11378844

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library