Name/Title
The Works of the Late Dr. BenjaminDescription
Charlestown, [MA]: Printed and Sold by John Lamson,
1798. 300pp. Portrait frontis.
Two Volumes in one.
Scarce Charlestown printing of Franklin's life. the continuation of Franklin's life by Dr. Henry Stueber" - Evans.
The preface includes a letter from Richard Price about Franklin written shortly after his death.
The portrait in John Tiebout's New York edition was engraved by P. R. Maverick and shows Franklin in a coonskin hat. This frontispiece in this edition shows Franklin without a hat and with his profile facing to the left, and is unattributed.
The continuation of Franklin's life by Stueber (1703-1792), here on pages 110-167, was first printed in The Columbian Magazine, though this is the first time it is printed in book form. A Pennsylvania German by birth, Stueber had studied physics and medicine at the University of Pennsylvania before turning to Law, but died young before receiving his Law degree. His
background is apparent in this biographical sketch, which gives a detailed account of Franklin's discoveries in electricity and the state of international scientific communication in the mid-eighteenth century, as well as publishing letters pertaining to the establishment of the university. Stueber also covers Franklin's involvement in the establishment of other institutions, including the Library Company, the city's first fire company, Pennsylvania Abolition Society - in short, the many successes of Franklin's later years that were regrettably not covered in his own Life.Other Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
ReferencesOther Number
Ford 449. Evans 33756. Sabin 25602. HOWES F-323 (xef).Condition
Overall Condition
Very GoodDate Examined
Oct 21, 2024Notes
Bound in period-style full leather, gilt-ruled spine bands, morocco spine label, simple tooling in blind, housed in a custom cloth box. Faint scattered foxing and toning throughout, else a very good copy.