William Strahan’s Account for Printing and Books, [13 September 1774]
William Strahan’s Account for Printing and Books
AD: American Philosophical Society
We do not normally print accounts in extenso, but this one reveals enough about Franklin’s literary activities over an eighteen-month period to justify an exception.
[Sept. 13. 1774.]
Dr. Franklin
| Decr. | Sheet of Rules, 2 Reams | PL6 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Two Reams of Writing Medium [?] Paper for Do. | PL | 2 | 8 | ||||||||||
| Petit Code de la Raison Humaine,7 4sheets, No 500, @ 14s. |
PL | 2 | 16 | ||||||||||
| Four Reams of Paper for Do. | PL | 3 | |||||||||||
| Stitching Do. 50 of which in Marble Paper | PL | 1 | 5 | ||||||||||
| 1773. | |||||||||||||
| February Massachusetts |
Votes of Freeholders of Boston,8 3½ sheets, No 500, @ 14s. |
2 | 9 | ||||||||||
| 3½ Reams of Paper for Do. | 2 | 9 | |||||||||||
| June & Septr. | Two Erratas for Petit Code;9 No 500, with Paper | PL | 15 | ||||||||||
| 1772. | |||||||||||||
| August 24. | Every Man his own Vermin-killer | charged to WF Aug 24: 17721 |
1 | 6 | |||||||||
| Georgical Essays, 4 vols. sewed | 10 | ||||||||||||
| Young’s Eastern Tour, 4 vols. | 1 | 4 | |||||||||||
| Balance due on account of the Philadelphia Library Company | 91 | 14 | 6 | ||||||||||
| £110 | 14 | ||||||||||||
| True State of Proceedings2 Massachusetts | 11 | 14 | |||||||||||
| 122 | 8 | ||||||||||||
| Received Sept. 13. 1774. of Benj. Franklin Esqr the Contents of the above Bill in full. | |||||||||||||
| Will. Strahan3 | |||||||||||||
| Books sent to the Philadelphia Library Company, July 1772. | |||||||||||||
|
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| 97 | 15 | 6 | |||||||||||
| Do. sent Do. February 1774. | |||||||||||||
|
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| 93 | 19 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 191 | 14 | 6 | |||||||||||
| Received on act. June 11. 1772 | 100 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Balance | £ 91 | 14 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Printed for Dr. Franklin By Will. Strahan | |||||||||||||
| 1774. | £ | s. | d. | ||||||||||
| May | True State of the proceedings respecting Massachusets Bay, 6 Sheets, No 500, @ £1 4 0 | 7 | 4 | 0 | |||||||||
| For 6 Reams of Paper for Do. @ 12s. | 3 | 12 | 0 | ||||||||||
| For Title to Do. No 350, with Paper5 | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||||||||||
| £11 | 14 | 0 | |||||||||||
6. The Philadelphia Library Company. Throughout the account BF made notations which, like this one, we distinguish by italics.
7. Dubourg’s pamphlet, for which see above XIX, 329, 348, 358; XX, 41 n.
8. The declaration of the Boston town meeting with BF’s preface: ibid., pp. 82–7.
9. These must have been the result of Dubourg’s comments after publication; most of them were doubtless in a letter or letters now lost, but a small sample is in idem., p. 160. BF’s notation indicates that he sent the errata to the Library Co. for insertion in their copies, but we have located none that has them.
1. The charges to WF are in the Jour., p. 43, and Ledger, p. 1. The guide to vermin-killing we are unable to identify. The second work was Alexander Hunter, ed., Georgical Essays: in Which the Food of Plants Is Particularly Considered … (4 vols., London, 1770–72). The third was [Arthur Young,] The Farmer’s Tour through the East of England … (4 vols., London, 1771).
2. [Arthur Lee,] A True State of the Proceedings in the Parliament of Great Britain, and in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, Relative to the Giving and Granting the Money of the People of That Province … (London, 1774). See BF to Cushing above, June 1.
3. In the margin of the first sheet, which ends here, BF added the items marked PL and those marked Massachusetts; they came to £12 6s. and £16 12s. respectively, and Strahan was paid the £28 18s. in September: Jour., p. 55.
4. For prompt payment: Jour., p. 47.
5. Hence the title page of Lee’s pamphlet must have been printed separately and for only part of the edition.