The papers of Benjamin Franklin

Author(s)

• Franklin, Benjamin
• Bell, Whitfield J. (Whitfield Jenks)
• Boatfield, Helen C.
• Fineman, Helen H.
• Labaree, Leonard W. (Leonard Woods)
• Oberg, Barbara B.
• Cohn, Ellen R.

Bibliographic Information

The papers of Benjamin Franklin

Leonald W. Labaree, editor ; Whitfield J. Bell, Jr., associate editor ; Helen C. Boatfield and Helen H. Fineman, assistant editors

Yale University Press, 1959-

• v. 31
• v. 32
• v. 33
• v. 34
• v. 35
• v. 36
• v. 37
• v. 38
• v. 39
• v. 40
• v. 41
• v. 42
• v. 43

Note

Description based on v. 31

Vol. 31. Nov. 1, 1779, through Feb. 29, 1780 -- v. 32. March 1 through June 30, 1780 -- v. 33. July 1 through November 15, 1780 -- v. 34. November 16, 1780, through April 30, 1781 -- v. 35. May 1 through October 31, 1781 -- v. 36. Nov. 1, 1781, thurough March 15, 1782 -- v. 37. March 16 through August 15, 1782 -- v. 38. August 16, 1782, through January 20, 1783 -- v. 39. January 21 through May 15, 1783 -- v. 40. May 16 through September 15, 1783 -- v. 41. Sep. 16, 1783, through Feb. 29, 1784 -- v. 42. Mar. 1 through Aug. 15, 1784 -- v. 43. Aug. 16, 1784, through Mar. 15, 1785

Vol. 31-35 / Barbara B. Oberg, editor -- vol. 36- / Ellen R. Cohn, editor

v. 30以前は別書誌 (BA07208579)

"Sponsored by the American Philosophical Society and Yale University"--Half title page

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

v. 31 ISBN 9780300061093

Description

The thirty-first volume of the collected writings and correspondences of the American statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin Volume 31 of The Papers of Benjamin Franklin is the fourth volume in the sequence dealing with Franklin's tenure as sole minister to the French court, and it is the ninth of a projected twenty volumes covering Franklin's years in France. Franklin's public life was exceptionally busy. Among his duties were supervising the collection of arms and uniforms for the American army and conducting an inquiry into the conduct of Captain Pierre Landais at the Battle off Flamborough Head. This volume gives much information about Franklin's other interests as well, ranging from a fascinating tailor's bill to a lengthy memorial describing his western land ventures. Five of his bagatelles-including "The Whistle" and "The Elysian Fields," composed for the two most important women in his French life, Mme. Brillon and Mme. Helvetius-appear here. Students of a variety of subjects, from cryptography to the history of printing, will find material of interest in this richly varied collection of letters and documents. Volume 31 is a major addition not only to Franklin studies but also to the study of early American history. Publication of this volume was assisted by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission

Volume

v. 32 ISBN 9780300066173

Description

The thirty-second volume of the collected writings and correspondences of the American statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin During the spring of 1780, Benjamin Franklin was midway through an eight-and-a-half-year mission to France. He was in good health, energetic, and occupied with a variety of important ministerial tasks and private pursuits. In this volume, the fifth in the sequence dealing with Franklin's tenure as sole minister to the French court, and tenth of a projected twenty volumes covering his years in France, Franklin focuses on diplomatic activities and takes on the role of expressing to France America's pressing needs in this time of economic instability and military stalemate. Demonstrating wide-ranging talents and activities, Franklin's correspondence is singular in scope and interest. Working purposefully to surmount one difficulty after another, Franklin sought a general prisoner exchange, assisted escaped prisoners, drafted passports, honored bills that were presented to him for payment, and remained involved in the effort to assemble and ship uniforms, arms, and gunpowder to America. During these months he also bought an entire type foundry, purchased two presses, conferred about a script type he had commissioned, received shipments of paper and type from England in spite of the war, designed a method to determine the conductivity of metals, submitted to the Academie des sciences a lengthy memoir on lightning rods for the Strasbourg Cathedral, and penned a jocular essay on inflammable air" in response to a Royal Academy of Brussels mathematical prize question that he regarded as frivolous. Publication of this volume was assisted by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Volume

v. 33 ISBN 9780300070408

Description

The thirty-third volume of the collected writings and correspondences of the American statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin This volume, which covers the late summer and autumn of 1780, shows Franklin responding to adversity with courage, dedication, and resilience. During this period Franklin finds himself "terrified and vexed" by the "Storm of Bills," "indisposed by continual Anxiety," and bedridden with gout as the volume ends. However, he receives some advice on his health in the form of a poem by his witty neighbor Madame Brillon, and soon his health and spirits will revive. Publication of this volume was assisted by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Volume

v. 34 ISBN 9780300074130

Description

The thirty-fourth volume of the collected writings and correspondences of the American statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin This volume spans the period from late fall 1780 through the spring of 1781 and continues the documentation of Franklin's mission as minister plenipotentiary to France. During these eventful months, Franklin averts a financial crisis by obtaining additional loans and grants from the French government. The Continental Congress, however, not yet aware that Franklin has secured this support, appoints a special envoy to obtain assistance for the American Army. This attack on his authority so upsets Franklin that he volunteers to resign his position. Franklin also learns of Benedict Arnold's treason and capture as well as the arrest of American artist John Trumbull. Trumbull's friend Thomas Digges, Franklin's agent for prisoner relief in England, goes into hiding amidst rumors that he has been misappropriating funds intended for American prisoners. Despite these reversals and his slow recovery from an attack of gout earlier in the fall, Franklin exchanges lively and affectionate letters with his neighbor Madame Brillon, and he sends her two bagatelles, "Dialogue Between the Gout and Mr. Franklin" and "The Deformed and Handsome Leg." His circle of correspondents expands to include three other accomplished women-the Russian writer Ekaterina Dashkova, the comtesse de Golowkin, and the comtesse d'Houdetot, who orchestrates a splendid "fete champetre" at her estate in Franklin's honor. Publication of this volume was assisted by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Volume

v. 35 ISBN 9780300078411

Description

The thirty-fifth volume of the collected writings and correspondences of the American statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin During the six months from May through October 1781, Benjamin Franklin continues to address important diplomatic, political, and economic matters as minister plenipotentiary to France. While the decisive Yorktown campaign is waged in America, Franklin, a distant observer, faces a battle of his own--to save America's financial credit in Europe. Congress has drawn so many bills on him, on John Jay in Spain, and on John Adams in the Netherlands that Franklin, ultimately responsible for all of them, faces the danger of bankruptcy. Here, as at Yorktown, French help permits the young nation to weather the crisis. Having recovered from a prolonged spell of gout and having learned that he will be retained as American minister in France, Franklin is revived in health and spirits. He undertakes his many public responsibilities with renewed vigor and is appointed by Congress to a five-member commission to negotiate peace with Britain. Franklin finds time for experiments with different inks and paper, masonic activities, purchasing books and exchanging them with friends, and maintaining a wide correspondence that provides exceptionally revealing glimpses of his thinking on science, politics, and Indian languages. Publication of this volume was assisted by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Volume

v. 36 ISBN 9780300088700

Description

The thirty-sixth volume of the collected writings and correspondences of the American statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin As this volume opens, Franklin despairs of living long enough to see the war come to an end. He had been plagued by continued financial demands from Congress that he could not meet and was worried about how much further he could draw on France's goodwill. But on the evening of November 19, Vergennes received and forwarded to Franklin the news of Cornwallis's capitulation at Yorktown a month earlier. All France celebrated the Franco-American victory, and Franklin's life became a whirl of dinner parties and congratulations. Franklin spent the winter in excellent health and used this period of relative respite to intellectual advantage, buying books and attending scientific meetings. He could do little to hasten the war's end, however, and waited patiently for a change of policy by the British government. With the approach of spring, he received a series of letters on the failing fortunes of Lord North and his colleagues in the House of Commons. As the volume ends, Lord Cholmondeley is on his way to Paris. His arrival will offer Franklin a chance to make contact with a new British government that might negotiate for peace.

Volume

v. 37 ISBN 9780300100778

Description

The thirty-seventh volume of the collected writings and correspondences of the American statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin This book, encompassing five months during 1782, promises to be one of the most significant volumes in the entire series of Benjamin Franklin's papers. Between March and August, Franklin mastered one of the greatest challenges of his diplomatic career by establishing the framework for a peace agreement with Great Britain. The negotiations required enormous subtlety in order to mollify the French while also satisfying the British. Franklin's success was based upon the same strengths he had demonstrated several years earlier during the lengthy search for an alliance with the French government: an unswerving confidence in the rectitude and ultimate triumph of the American cause, immense patience, and an aptitude for one of the diplomat's most subtle arts-creating contrasting impressions for different audiences.

Volume

v. 38 ISBN 9780300109306

Description

The thirty-eighth volume of the collected writings and correspondences of the American statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin This volume covers the five-month period ending January 20, 1783, when Britain signed preliminary articles of peace with France and Spain, and Britain and the United States declared a cessation of hostilities, effectively ending the American Revolution. Most of the volume deals with the deliberations that brought about this momentous turn of events. Franklin had worked tirelessly since the previous April to negotiate a peace treaty, employing his diplomatic arts so as to mollify both the British and the French. For the final rounds of negotiations conducted in the fall of 1782-a day-by-day drama of difficult discussions and not infrequent setbacks-he was joined by John Adams, John Jay, and Henry Laurens. Finally, on November 30, the Americans signed a preliminary peace treaty with Britain that would take effect when Britain, France, and Spain signed treaties of their own.

Volume

v. 39 ISBN 9780300134483

Description

The thirty-ninth volume of the collected writings and correspondences of the American statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin In the four months following the January 20, 1783, armistice that ended the War for American Independence, Franklin was remarkably energetic as he helped oversee the transition to peace and waged a multifaceted campaign to publicize the ideals of the new nation. Though political turmoil in Britain delayed negotiations for the definitive peace treaty, Franklin deftly negotiated America's first commercial treaty with a neutral nation, Sweden, which was signed in secret. He distributed his richly symbolic Libertas Americana medal, worked toward the publication of his French edition of the American state constitutions, and fielded scores of letters from people all over Europe who sought to emigrate, to establish trade connections with the United States, to become consuls, and to offer congratulations and advice.

Volume

v. 40 ISBN 9780300165463

Description

The fortieth volume of the collected writings and correspondences of the American statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin During the period of this volume, the United States of America completed its transformation into a fully recognized independent nation. In May, Franklin and his fellow American peace commissioners John Adams, John Jay, and Henry Laurens recommenced treaty negotiations with their new British counterpart David Hartley. Those negotiations proved fruitless, as the new British ministry rejected all proposals for additional articles. On September 3, 1783, the commissioners signed the Definitive Treaty of Peace, which was essentially identical to the preliminary articles signed the previous November. While this marked the official end of the War for American Independence, the nations of Europe had long since recognized the United States. In the spring, Franklin, as sole minister plenipotentiary, secretly negotiated draft commercial treaties with Denmark and Portugal. After being recognized by the diplomatic corps in early July, he received overtures from other ambassadors, including a proposal from the papal nuncio concerning American Catholics. Franklin published a French edition of the American state constitutions, which he sent to every monarch in Europe, witnessed the first hot-air balloon ascension, welcomed his grandson Benjamin Franklin Bache back from Geneva, and wrote to his friends that "There never was a good War or a bad Peace."

Volume

v. 41 ISBN 9780300203745

Description

The forty-first volume of the collected writings and correspondences of the American statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin After the signing of the definitive peace treaty on September 3, 1783, Franklin's official duties as minister plenipotentiary diminished. He concluded a draft consular convention with France, but Great Britain did not act on the articles for a commercial agreement that he negotiated with David Hartley, and Congress did not ratify the draft treaties of commerce with Denmark and Portugal that he had sent to Philadelphia the previous summer. In his welcome leisure time, however, Franklin followed scientific developments (witnessing the first balloon ascensions in Paris), advised the French government on schemes for civic improvement (making cornbread and building coal-burning stoves), and wrote three of his most remarkable pieces about what it meant to be American.

Volume

v. 42 ISBN 9780300222692

Description

The forty-second volume of the collected writings and correspondences of the American statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin "The Papers of Benjamin Franklin series remains among the premier scholarly accomplishments of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries."-Carla J. Mulford, Reviews in American History In the spring of 1784, Franklin, John Jay, and British negotiator David Hartley exchanged ratifications of the definitive British-American peace treaty. Hoping for permission from Congress to return home, Franklin settled his accounts, negotiated a French consular convention, headed a royal commission to investigate animal magnetism, wrote several scientific theories, and published his well-known satire about rising with the sun. As the volume ends, Thomas Jefferson brings news of a diplomatic assignment that would keep Franklin in France for another year.

Volume

v. 43 ISBN 9780300236064

Description

The forty-third volume of the collected writings and correspondence of the American statesman, ambassador, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin "The Papers of Benjamin Franklin series remains among the premier scholarly accomplishments of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries."-Carla J. Mulford, Reviews in American History (review of volume 42) In late August, 1784, Franklin, John Adams, and the newly arrived Thomas Jefferson began their congressional commission to negotiate treaties of amity and commerce with twenty nations. Of the countries they approached, only Prussia entered into negotiations. The Americans sent Prussia a treaty proposal based on the draft treaty that Franklin had negotiated with Denmark the previous year but which Congress had not acted upon. Jefferson rearranged the articles and simplified their language. To the two unprecedented humanitarian articles that Franklin had crafted in 1782, the American commissioners added a third, guaranteeing humane treatment of prisoners of war. Frederick II, understanding their historic nature, quickly approved the new articles. Also during the period of this volume, from August 16, 1784, through March 15, 1785, Franklin permitted his grandson Temple to visit his Loyalist father in London, apprenticed his younger grandson Benny to a type founder, invented a novel kind of sailboat, inspired a new musical instrument, and entertained the first aeronaut to cross the English Channel in a balloon. As the volume ends, John Jay writes a letter informing Franklin that his recall has finally been approved.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BA27251865
• ISBN:
  • 0300061099
  • 0300066171
  • 0300070403
  • 0300074131
  • 0300078412
  • 0300088701
  • 0300100779
  • 030010930X
  • 9780300134483
  • 9780300165463
  • 9780300203745
  • 9780300222692
  • 9780300236064
• Country Code: us
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: New Haven ; London
• Pages/Volumes: v.
• Size: 23 cm
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790