"THOSE WHO WOULD GIVE UP ESSENTIAL LIBERTY TO PURCHASE A LITTLE TEMPORARY SAFETY, DESERVE NEITHER LIBERTY NOR SAFETY": FIRST EDITION OF FRANKLIN'S HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT OF PENSYLVANIA [SIC], 1759

(FRANKLIN, Benjamin). An Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of Pensylvania [sic], From its Origin… Founded on authentic Documents. London: R. Griffiths, 1759. Octavo, contemporary full brown calf rebacked in calf-gilt, red morocco spine label, raised bands.

First edition of the 1759 Review documenting a dispute over taxation in Pennsylvania, published anonymously in London over a decade before the American Revolution, widely attributed to Franklin and published while he was in Britain as an emissary of the Pennsylvania Assembly, regarded as "one of Franklin's most masterly productions."

Publication of the Review was sparked by a fierce dispute between Franklin and the Pennsylvania proprietors, including heirs of William Penn. During the French and Indian war, as "French-inspired hostile Indians were closing within a day's ride of Philadelphia," the Pennsylvania Assembly proposed a bill to raise money for defense by taxing property, including the proprietary estates. When the proprietors instructed the governor to veto the bill, Franklin was angered. "That the proprietors… refused to pay taxes on their lands in Pennsylvania along with everyone else galled Franklin no end." In 1757 the Assembly decided "to send a mission to England to argue its case… [with] the threat of seeking to have Parliament remove the Penns from control of Pennsylvania. Naturally the 51-year-old Franklin was selected as emissary" (Wood, Americanization, 79-82).

Franklin hoped the Review "would 'spread and confirm among our people, and especially in the rising generation, those sentiments of liberty that one would wish always to prevail in Pennsylvania" (Hawke, 176). While he denied authorship, it is in his Collected Works, and to one early historian, this "must be classed as one of Franklin's most masterly productions" (Capen, History of Democracy, 267). The force of Franklin's impatience with Penn's heirs and the proprietors notably resonates in the quote on the title page: "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Despite its anonymous publication, Franklin's preeminent bibliographer concludes: "this work must still be treated as from Franklin's pen, for Franklin was at that time the only person in London who had the knowledge and material for such a book; he was the only person interested in the writing of it, and was indeed virtually sent to London for just such work, and he was the person who paid the cost of publication and distributed the copes; but what is most conclusive is the statement of his son William (then in London) that 'My father has been much occupied of late with putting together the materials for the work against the p—ers'" (Ford 253). The Review is also key in that it "preserves to succeeding generations some most valuable documents, not to be found elsewhere… It is based on documentary evidence, as it announces on its title page, and there is no question but Dr. Franklin saw to its accuracy in that respect" (Konkle, George Bryan and the Constitution of Pennsylvania, 38). Precedes the first American edition. Some attribute the work to Richard Jackson. Sabin 25512. Howes P-204. Early owner signature to title page.

Text generally fresh with light scattered foxing, faint marginal dampstaining early leaves, small closed tear to contents page. Contemporary calf boards expertly restored.