Benjamin Franklin, The Private Life of the Late Benjamin Franklin, LL.D. (1793)
Benjamin Franklin was sixty-five when he wrote the first part of his autobiography, which focused on his early life to 1730. During the 1780s he added three briefer parts that advanced his story to his fiftieth year (1756) and revised the first part. In the summer of 1790, shortly after his death, additional extracts of Franklin’s memoirs appeared in two Philadelphia magazines. The first book-length edition was published in Paris in 1791. The first English edition, a retranslation of this French edition, was published in London in 1793. A masterpiece of wit and style, Franklin’s autobiography has been reprinted innumerable times and still is considered one of the most influential memoirs in American literature.
Benjamin Franklin was sixty-five when he wrote the first part of his autobiography, which focused on his early life to 1730. During the 1780s he added three briefer parts that advanced his story to his fiftieth year (1756) and revised the first part. In the summer of 1790, shortly after his death, additional extracts of Franklin’s memoirs appeared in two Philadelphia magazines. The first book-length edition was published in Paris in 1791. The first English edition, a retranslation of this French edition, was published in London in 1793. A masterpiece of wit and style, Franklin’s autobiography has been reprinted innumerable times and still is considered one of the most influential memoirs in American literature.