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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Found 10 books(s). Showing results 1 thru 10.
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English Liberties

ENGLISH LIBERTIES “HAD MORE TO DO WITH PREPARING THE MINDS OF AMERICAN COLONISTS FOR THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION THAN… COKE, SIDNEY AND LOCKE”

CARE, Henry. English Liberties. Providence, Rhode-Island, 1774.

1774 American edition of Care's immensely influential English Liberties, preceded only by the 1721 Boston edition, issued not long after the Boston Tea Party and the same year as the First Continental Congress, with printings of the Magna Charta, the Habeas Corpus Act (1769)—"a second Magna Charta"—and foundational texts on jury trials, "principally designed for America," containing printing of the preface to the 1721 edition proclaiming "when liberty is once gone, even life itself grows insipid," with rear list of Subscriber's Names. $13,500.

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Anarchy of the Ranters. WITH: Epistle to... Quakers

PRINTED IN 1757 BY FRANKLIN AND HALL, EXCEPTIONALLY SCARCE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION OF TWO MAJOR QUAKER WORKS IN ONE VOLUME,

(FRANKLIN PRINTING) BARCLAY, Robert. Anarchy of the Ranters. WITH: Epistle to… Quakers. Philadelphia, 1757.

First American edition of this collection of two key Quaker works, published by the printing firm of Benjamin Franklin and David Hall “on behalf of the Society of Friends” (Miller 655), featuring Scottish-born Barclay’s influential Treatise on Christian Discipline, issued under its original title of Anarchy of the Ranters (1676)—“one of the most impressive theological writings of the century”—with An Epistle (1726) by Irish-born Quaker Pike, rare in contemporary sheep. $4800.

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Votes and Proceedings

PRINTED IN 1754 BY FRANKLIN AND HALL

(FRANKLIN PRINTING) (PENNSYLVANIA). Votes and Proceedings. Philadelphia, 1754.

First edition of the separately issued third volume of Franklin and Hall's folio reprinting of the Provincial Votes of Pennsylvania, 1682-1744; this volume covers the votes from October 14, 1726 through 1744. The copy of Pennsylvania politician James Ross, with his signature on the title page. Beautifully bound. $4500.

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Epistle to the National Meeting of Friends in Dublin

RARE 1757 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND DAVID HALL IMPRINT, FIRST AMERICAN EDITION OF PIKE'S EPISTLE TO THE NATIONAL MEETING OF FRIENDS, IN DUBLIN

(FRANKLIN, Benjamin) PIKE, Joseph. Epistle to the National Meeting of Friends in Dublin. Philadelphia, 1757.

First American edition of Joseph Pike's influential Quaker work, a rare imprint of the firm of Franklin and Hall, issued near the same time Franklin became a representative for the Pennsylvania Assembly and the colonies of Massachusetts, Georgia and New Jersey in Britain, handsomely bound in full morocco. $4500.

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Works of the Late Doctor Benjamin Franklin

THE "FIRST GREAT AMERICAN"

FRANKLIN, Benjamin. Works of the Late Doctor Benjamin Franklin. London, 1793. Two volumes.

Second English edition, printed in the same year as the first and including three additional essays, of this leading popular collection of Franklin's Works, edited by his friend Richard Price, including Franklin's autobiography, major essays such as his thoughts "On the Slave Trade" and his powerful speech at the close of the 1787 Constitutional Convention—"the most eloquent words Franklin ever wrote." A wide-margined, handsomely bound copy. $4500.

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Liberty of the Spirit

“A DISTINCTLY AMERICAN CHARACTER OF PUBLIC SERVICE FOR THE AMERICAN PRESS”: RARE 1759 FRANKLIN AND HALL IMPRINT

(FRANKLIN, Benjamin, printer) RUTTY, John. Liberty of the Spirit. Dublin, Printed: Philadelphia Reprinted by, 1759.

First American edition of Quaker John Rutty’s work on spiritual and civic values, printed in Philadelphia by the firm of Benjamin Franklin and David Hall in 1759, with rarely found original front paper wrapper. $3500.

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Series of Answers to Certain Popular Questions

JOSIAH TUCKER WAS BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S "BÊTE NOIRE

(AMERICAN REVOLUTION) TUCKER, Josiah. Series of Answers to Certain Popular Questions. Glocester, 1776.

First edition of Tucker's incendiary 1776 work in which he responds to both British and American positions on American independence, issued as news of the Revolution's opening battles reached Britain, expressing his long-held, "unique" and fiercely contentious views as Britain's "Cassandra," defending taxation of Americans even as he demanded "America be set free now," with Franklin known to make extensive comments in the margins of a copy now located in the Library of Congress, which he could have purchased in late December 1776. $3400.

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Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge

“NO OBJECT CAN EXIST WITHOUT A MIND TO CONCEIVE IT”

BERKELEY, George. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. London, 1734.

First combined edition of Berkeley's Principles of Human Knowledge together with his Three Dialogues, the last appearance of both works in his lifetime, with Principles—"his most important work"—and Three Dialogues profoundly anticipating the ideas of Hume, Kant and later scientific thinkers such as Ernst Mach. $3000.

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Doctrine of Baptisms

"AN INAPPROPRIATE EXERCISE OF POWER IN SPIRITUAL MATTERS": DELL'S DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS, 1759, PUBLISHED BY THE PHILADELPHIA FIRM OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND DAVID HALL

(FRANKLIN, Benjamin) DELL, William. Doctrine of Baptisms. London Printed: Philadelphia, 1759.

1759 Philadelphia edition printed by Franklin and Hall of Dell's Doctrine of Baptisms at the request of the Philadelphia Friends and leading abolitionist Anthony Benezet, early signaling the emergence of a profoundly influential friendship between Franklin and Benezet. $2800.

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Oeuvres

“THE FIRST COLLECTION OF FRANKLIN’S WRITINGS IN ANY LANGUAGE”

FRANKLIN, Benjamin. Oeuvres. Paris, 1773. Two volumes.

First edition of a landmark collection of Franklin’s scientific, philosophical and political writings—“the first major translation of Franklin’s scientific works into French”—edited by his friend Barbeu-Dubourg, including Franklin’s landmark series of letters on electricity to Peter Collinson, his Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind—“one of Franklin’s most important tracts”—his pre-Revolutionary letters to British commander William Shirley, his correspondence with the young Polly Stevenson, and “several pieces not included in any former edition” (Ford), a handsome wide-margined two-volume copy, with engraved frontispiece of Franklin and 12 engraved plates, scarce in contemporary calf. Text in French. $2200.

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