“THE MOST WIDELY REPRINTED OF FRANKLIN’S WRITINGS”: EXCEEDINGLY RARE 1758 EDITION OF FRANKLIN’S POOR RICHARD’S ALMANACK, THE LAST ONE PRINTED BY HIM AND THE FIRST TO INCLUDE THE “WAY TO WEALTH” PREFACE— ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED AND WIDELY READ WORKS OF COLONIAL AMERICA

FRANKLIN, Benjamin. Poor Richard Improved: Being an Almanack and Ephemeris of the Motions of the Sun and Moon… For the Year of our Lord 1758. Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by B. Franklin and D. Hall, [1757]. 12mo, stitched as issued; 36 unnumbered pages (18 leaves, the final two supplied from a later edition). $16,000.

Rare first edition of Franklin’s famous almanac for the year 1758, the last in the Poor Richard series to be printed by him, and the first to incorporate the famous aphorisms of prior issues into a preface entitled “The Way to Wealth”—“the most widely reprinted of Franklin’s writings.” Illustrated with a woodcut showing the anatomy of a man’s body surrounded by symbols of the Zodiac, along with 14 other woodcuts.

“This is the twenty-sixth and last almanac in this series which Franklin prepared himself; thereafter David Hall assumed the responsibility. Appropriately, the contents of this almanac make it the best known of all, for it is the direct source of the most widely reprinted of all Franklin’s writings, even including the autobiography. Richard Saunders’ prefatory address to the ‘Courteous Reader,’ which in previous almanacs usually occupies about one page, is in this year expanded to fill not only the usual second page of the pamphlet but also all the available space on the right-hand pages devoted to the twelve months and all but two lines of an additional page after December. In it Franklin created a new persona, ‘a plain clean old Man, with white Locks,’ called Father Abraham. At a public ‘vendue’ the assembled crowd called on him for comment on ‘the Times’ and for advice on how to meet the ‘heavy Taxes’ now in force. Father Abraham’s speech in response to this call comprises the chief substance of this extended preface. It consists of the selection and careful arrangement in a connected discourse of approximately one hundred of the aphorisms and maxims contained in the earlier Poor Richard almanacs. If Franklin had used any one of these aphorisms as a text for Father Abraham’s homily (which he did not do) he might well have selected one from April 1744: ‘Industry, Perseverance, and Frugality, make Fortune yield.’ For the quotations selected are, with few exceptions, those inculcating hard work, diligence, careful management of one’s affairs, prudence, and thrift. Omitting all the other commentary on man and society which the almanacs so extensively provide, Father Abraham focuses attention exclusively upon the prudential wisdom which, in fact, occupies only a relatively small proportion of ‘the little Spaces that occur’d between the Remarkable Days in the Calendar.’ This concentration upon a series of related themes and the wide circulation which has been given to this piece in the course of two hundred years have had a profound effect upon the Franklin legend and the public conception of his sense of values. In his own lifetime its homely wisdom contributed heavily to his personal popularity, especially in France during the American Revolution” (Founders Online).

"Since the introduction of the first printing press to Massachusetts, the almanac had been the quintessential product of the colonial printer. Almost every printer produced one, as it was almost guaranteed to turn a good profit. But the almanac was more than just a profitable book; issued annually, it came to epitomize the American condition and conversely to shape a distinctly American viewpoint. Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack is the best known of the colonial almanacs and was distinguished by its sayings and maxims" (The Book in America, 29). Franklin wrote and published his almanac for 25 years, from 1733 to 1758, and it made him a wealthy man ("vending annually near ten thousand"). "In 1732 I published my Almanac under the name of Richard Saunders; it was continued by me about twenty-five years, and commonly called Poor Richard's Almanac. I endeavored to make it both entertaining and useful, and it accordingly came to be in such demand, that I reaped considerable profit from it, vending annually near ten thousand. And observing that it was generally read, (scarce any neighborhood in the province being without it), I consider'd it as a proper vehicle for conveying instruction among the common people, who bought scarcely any other books; I therefore filled all the little spaces that occurr'd between the remarkable days in the calendar with proverbial sentences, chiefly such as inculcated industry and frugality, as the means of procuring wealth, and thereby securing virtue; it being more difficult for a man in want, to act always honestly, as, to use here one of those proverbs, it is hard for an empty sack to stand upright" (Franklin). "This almanac is the 26th in the Poor Richard series and the final one known to be of Franklin's composing. If the date of the preface is correct, Franklin finished the writing on the high seas bound for England, and sent the manuscript back to Hall probably in the packet which reached New York on September 10. The preface, variously named "Father Abraham's Speech," "The Way to Wealth," or "La Science du Bonhomme Richard," is the most widely reprinted of Franklin's writings" (Miller 657, locating 20 copies). Evans 7899. Drake 9796. Hildeburn 1558. Campbell 607.

This copy of Franklin & Hall’s 1758 almanack lacks its original pages 33-36 (the final two leaves); in their place (disbound) are those pages from Hall & Sellers’ 1786 almanack from the continuing series, with information on the same topics (court days, Quaker meetings, fairs, and roads). Two original leaves (pages 29-32) have significant tears and text loss, affecting part of the conclusion of the preface, the chronology, and interest table (including the loss of eleven lines of the final page of “The Way to Wealth”). One leaf has a closed tear, and two leaves have a minor hole. Text only very lightly browned, with some marginal wear, chiefly to corners, at times affecting border and text; some spotting to title page. Despite its flaws (including the loss of several lines of “The Way to Wealth”) and fragility, a truly scarce example of an iconic American work which rarely appears on the market. An exceedingly scarce work, copies of which rarely appear on the market, particularly of so early a date and printed by Franklin.