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Benjamin Franklin first published "Poor Richard's Almanac" in 1732 [1, 2]. He published it under the name Richard Saunders [1].
The almanac was continued by him for about twenty-five years and came to be commonly called "Poor Richard's Almanac" [1]. He endeavored to make it both entertaining and useful, and it was in such demand that he reaped considerable profit from it, vending annually near ten thousand copies [1]. He considered it a proper vehicle for conveying instruction among the common people, filling the spaces between remarkable days with proverbial sentences, chiefly those that inculcated industry and frugality [1].
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r other employments that would divert his attention, makes the execution of that same plan his sole study and business. In 1732 I first publish'd my Almanack, under the name of Richard Saunders; it was continu'd by me about twenty-five years, commonly call'd Poor Richard's Almanac. I endeavor'd to make it both entertaining and useful, and it accordingly came to be in such demand, that I reap'd 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…
rreled, and Benjamin ran away, going first to New York, and thence to Philadelphia, where he arrived in October, 1723. He soon obtained work as a printer, but after a few months he was induced by Governor Keith to go to London, where, finding Keith's promises empty, he again worked as a compositor till he was brought back to Philadelphia by a merchant named Denman, who gave him a position in his business. On Denman's death he returned to his former trade, and shortly set up a printing house of his own from which he published "The Pennsylvania Gazette," to which he contributed…
in want, to act always honestly, as, to use here one of those proverbs, it is hard for an empty sack to stand upright. These proverbs, which contained the wisdom of many ages and nations, I assembled and form'd into a connected discourse prefix'd to the Almanack of 1757, as the harangue of a wise old man to the people attending an auction. The bringing all these scatter'd counsels thus into a focus enabled them to make greater impression. The piece, being universally approved, was copied in all the newspapers of the Continent; reprinted in Britain on a broad side, to be stuck up in…
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN The Harvard Classics WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES EDITED BY CHARLES W ELIOT LLD P F COLLIER & SON COMPANY NEW YORK 1909 Navigation Letter from Mr. Abel James. Publishes the first number of "Poor Richard's Almanac. Proposes a Plan of Union for the colonies Chief events in Franklin's life. INTRODUCTORY NOTE Benjamin Franklin was born in Milk Street, Boston, on January 6, 1706. His father, Josiah Franklin, was a tallow chandler who married twice, and of his seventeen children Benjamin was the youngest son.…
of literature produced in Colonial America. Meantime Franklin was concerning himself more and more with public affairs. He set forth a scheme for an Academy, which was taken up later and finally developed into the University of Pennsylvania; and he founded an "American Philosophical Society" for the purpose of enabling scientific men to communicate their discoveries to one another. He himself had already begun his electrical researches, which, with other scientific inquiries, he carried on in the intervals of money-making and politics to the end of his life. In 1748 he sold his…