[Americana] Franklin, Benjamin The Way to Wealth or Poor Richard Improved

Paris: Printed for Ant. Aug. Renouard, 1795. 12mo; 6 3/4 x 4 3/8 in. (171 x 111 mm). (iv), 181, (5), 31 (ads) pp. Printed in French and in English; with an additional title-page in French. Illustrated with an engraved frontispiece portrait of Franklin, by A. Tardieu after Duplessis. Quarter red morocco over marbled paper-covered boards, stamped in gilt, extremities, joints, and boards rubbed, spine darkened, spine head chipped; marbled edges; marbled endpapers; small book-plate on front paste-down; small open tear, center pp. 43/44. Ford 135; Sabin 25596

This bilingual edition of Franklin's popular aphorisms features a French translation by Antoine-François Quétant (1733-1823). While not the first French translation of some of Franklin’s writings--in 1773, Jacques Barbeu-Dubourg (1709-1779) published a translation of some of Franklin’s works, as Œuvres de M. Franklin, Docteur es Loix--in 1777, Quétant published a new translation of The Way to Wealth as La Science du Bonhomme Richard, ou Moyen facile de payer les impôts. This edition, considered by Ford "The prettiest edition yet printed," also contains Franklin's letter to a "Madame **" Passy, dated 1778, as well as the "Dialogue entre la goutte et Franklin," the poem "Le Sage et la goutte," and the essay "Quelques mots sur l'Amérique, avis à ceux qui voudroient aller s'établir dans cette contrée." "Dr. Franklin's Epitaph" is printed in both English and French at rear, and this copy includes the two publisher's catalogues only found in some copies. The separately paginated "Observations sur les Sauvages du Nord de l'Amerique," which according to Ford is only found in some copies, is not printed here.

Provenance

From the library of Richard Maass (1919-1998), noted collector and founding member of The Manuscript Society