Benjamin Franklin Papers

To Benjamin Franklin from F. and Anton Georg Eckhardt frères, 25 November 1777: résumé

From F. and Anton Georg Eckhardt frères3

ALS: American Philosophical Society

<The Hague, November 25, 1777, in French: One of us was known to you in London, and had the honor of your esteem. Our friend and correspondent M. Penet will give you the prospectus of a work describing an instrument that we have invented; we should be immensely flattered if you would allow your name to be included among our subscribers in France. We include a memorandum about a capstan of our design.4 You will doubtless remember its debut in England, when the Navy Board had it placed on a ship and it performed most successfully; the ship has not yet put to sea, however, and the capstan has not come into use. M. Penet will show you the products of a manufactory that we have established, which works with speed and precision and turns out better goods at more moderate prices than any factory of its kind in Europe.>

[Note numbering follows the Franklin Papers source.]

3. A firm of Dutch inventors. Anton Georg had designed a new type of water wheel in 1772, much more efficient than its predecessors, and the next year had been elected to the Royal Society. Biographisch Woordenboek der Nederlanden (Amsterdam, 1969); above, VIII, 359.

4. The prospectus and memorandum are in the APS. The former, which is printed, has to do with a universal graphometer, for measuring angles, that is better than all the mathematical, optical, or mechanical instruments hitherto known; it can be used in the military art, painting, engineering, architecture, etc. The MS memorandum describes the advantages of the new capstan over conventional ones.

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    Franklin Papers
    Title
    To Benjamin Franklin from F. and Anton Georg Eckhardt frères, 25 November 1777: résumé
    Author
    Eckhardt, F. and Anton Georg, frères
    Recipient
    Franklin, Benjamin
    Date
    25 November 1777

    Reference

    Cite as
    “To Benjamin Franklin from F. and Anton Georg Eckhardt frères, 25 November 1777: résumé,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-25-02-0138. [Original source: The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 25, October 1, 1777, through February 28, 1778, ed. William B. Willcox. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1986, p. 195.]