The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: Second Edition (Yale Nota Bene) (Paperback)

~ Benjamin Franklin (Author), Leonard W. Labaree (Editor), Ralph L. Ketcham (Editor), Helen C. Boatfield (Editor) "Franklin's autobiography has been admired both as representative eighteenth-century literature and as a revolutionary document belonging to a new era..." (more)
Key Phrases: proprietary estates, deputy postmaster general, New York, New England, Royal Society (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Compelling, instructional and…inspring…It is obvious that Morgan has done his homework. -- (Blue Ridge Business Journal)

Named a Best Book of 2002 -- (Salt Lake City Tribune)

Thanks to Morgan’s amiable biography…we meet Franklin and track his love of the British Empire and his eventual disillusionment. -- (Salt Lake City Tribune)

[Morgan] writes with…the discipline of someone who commands far more detail…than he has allowed himself…to impart. -- (George Fetherling, Vancouver Sun)

Product Description

Translated into a dozen languages, printed in hundreds of editions, and read by millions of people, Franklin’s autobiography has had an influence perhaps unequaled by any other book by an American writer. Written ostensibly as a letter to his son William, the autobiography offers Franklin’s reflections on philosophy and religion, politics, war, education, material success, and the status of women. This edition of the autobiography, prepared by the editors of The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, is drawn with scrupulous care from the original manuscript in Franklin’s handwriting now in the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. The introduction by Leonard W. Labaree places the autobiography in literary and historical contexts. In a new foreword, Edmund S. Morgan writes about Franklin’s dual allegiance as an American and a subject of an English king—and his emergence as a leader of the American Revolution. This edition also includes biographical notes, a chronology of Franklin’s life, and an updated bibliography.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 364 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 2 edition (April 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300098588
• ISBN-13: 978-0300098587
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #131,375 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #22 in

  Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( F ) > Franklin, Benjamin

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Life Lessons for All, February 12, 2007

By	James East (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Well, it has been nearly 30 years since I first read Benjamin Franklin's autobiography and one can still gain some insights after a good second reading. Both the American Icon's wisdom and insights are time honored and worth repeating no matter what your age. As one must chose their heroes and mentors well, Benjamin Franklin serves all well in both roles.

This edition has copious footnotes on every page unlike traditionally at the end of the book. The authors may have felt that the reader would be interested in the quick reference aspect versus paging to the back. Though this can be a little strange at first, I get their point and maybe it was better this way.

One aspect that I would have liked; however, would have been if they had added some of his other selected writings like "The Way to Wealth" and others. Irrespective, this is a good book and recommended as one of the more authoritative editions.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Human Side of an American Icon, February 26, 2007

By	Royce Callaway (SE Michigan USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like so many people I only know Benjamin Franklin from school and history books where he comes across as someone stiff and formal. But here in the first half of this book we find Ben Franklin the boy. We hear him complain of his parents, his restrictions, quarrels with his brothers, and of course things that all boys do. He steals from a construction site to build a fishing pier -- and gets caught. We see him finally breaking away and moving to Philadelphia where he arrives with very little money and must subsist on bread. He describes his youth and his gradual maturity as he builds his life and fortune. Interestingly this book leaves some doubt as to whether he was actually married to Deborah Read or had an "arrangement". I particularly enjoyed his description of General Braddock and his defeat by the Indians. Although this was only briefly touched on this and other similar references to the English gives you insight into why the colonists rebelled. Clearly the English completely misjudged the American Character as most Europeans do even today.

Unfortunately the second half of this book was written after the war and when Franklin was an old man and clearly not terribly interested in finishing this book. It reads as an after thought and really doesn't provide any insight into his role or the extraordinary people and events of which he was a part. But it does show the close relationship he had with his son so when the estrangement came it must have hurt him deeply although this is a subject not mentioned at all in the book.

However, the editors have kindly provided a marvelous timeline in the appendix, which really gives you a summary of the Revolutionary War as it places various key events into perspective. You see the impact that John Paul Jones's victory over the Serapis had on events in Paris. It shows how Franklin's diplomatic skills had a huge effect on the ultimate outcome of the war.

Franklin was an extraordinary man who lived an extraordinary life. He writes about himself rather modestly and really doesn't touch on his activities during the war in any detail and for this reason I only gave this book four stars. Still this is an interesting book about a truly fascinating man.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read for Everyone, January 7, 2008

By	P&P Enzymes - See all my reviews

The autobiography of Franklin was a worthwhile book to read. I suggest ignoring the footnotes as you read his autobiography since it distracts you from reading Franklin's work. It was a good book that details how industriousness results in a wonderful, useful public life at an older age. Franklin is the type of public servant that we are lacking today.