“HE’S ONLY GREAT—WHO DARES BE FREE”: EXCEEDINGLY RARE FIRST EDITION OF FRANKLIN AND HALL’S POOR RICHARD’S IMPROVED… ALMANACK FOR 1763

(FRANKLIN, Benjamin). Poor Richard Improved: Being an Almanack and Ephemeris of the Motions of the Sun and Moon; The True Places and Aspects of the Planets; The Rising and Setting of the Sun; And the Rising, Setting and Southing of the Moon, for the Year of Our Lord 1763. Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by B. Franklin and D. Hall, [1762]. 12mo (4 by 7 inches), early 19th-century half tan sheep, marbled boards, signatures with original stitching as issued, uncut; pp. [36]. Housed in a custom chemise and slipcase.

Rare first edition of Franklin’s famed Poor Richard’s Improved… Almanack for 1763, published shortly before England targeted America with punitive taxation, with the famed woodcut of anatomical man “govern’d” by constellations and 12 woodcut panels, rarely found complete. Housed in a custom chemise and slipcase.

Franklin began to publish his Poor Richard’s Almanack in 1732, initiating a series that became “America’s first great humor classic.” Using the pseudonym Richard Saunders, Franklin “had fun hiding behind the veil of Poor Richard,” writing delightful prefaces, proverbs and often timely sayings (Isaacson, 94, 97). As such, this rare complete Almanack for the year 1763, printed soon before England passed taxes targeting America’s revolutionary impulse, contains verses that praise “The Patriot” in the monthly sections for October and November: “Thrice happy Patriot, whom no Courts debase… Fond of your Freedom, spurn the venal Fee. And prove he’s only great—— who dares be free.” Includes advice on matrimonial happiness, a cure for love (as well as gout) and more. Poor Richard “is beyond question the most famous of almanacs, the most charming and readable of Franklin’s writings” (Ford, 11). “Indeed, Franklin was among the few colonial almanac writers who did his own astronomical calculations… Poor Richard became a how-to-guide for backyard astronomers.” Like other colonial almanacs, these Almanacks were “compact little wonders, they were printed on cheap paper and had no real binding. They were meant for daily use, and surviving examples are often…torn apart” (Chaplin, 56-8). While Franklin, after 1748, was no longer involved in the daily operations of his and Hall’s busy printing concern, the historical record, Franklin scholarship and bibliographic authorities clearly note that his over-arching authorship role of the almanacs continued, along with the opportune supervision of their printing. With woodcut “Anatomy of Man’s Body as govern’d by the Twelve Constellations” and woodcut headpieces for the 12 months. Sabin 25567. Miller 502. Evans 9263. Hildeburn 1198. See Ford, 9-11. See Evans 6501, 6502. Early owner signature to title page, scant early marginalia.

Text generally fresh with a bit of light scattered foxing, tiny bit of loss to corner of title page not affecting text. An exceptional copy, rarely found complete and uncut.