150031Editorial Note on Franklin’s Accounts, 1778 (Franklin Papers)
Two accounts that begin in the period of this volume do not throw much light on it. They are: XVI. Cash Book, June 13, 1778, to October 19, 1780: American Philosophical Society, 42 pp. Franklin bought this book in England, for it contains some entries for the early months of 1772; it also has two notes by him, one undated on gifts of soap and the other on books lent in November, 1778. The...
150032Editorial Note on Franklin’s Accounts, 1778 (Franklin Papers)
Of the accounts discussed throughout the French period, the following still apply: I, III, V–VII, XI–XIII, XVII. We offer here a summary of entries which have not found a place elsewhere in our annotation, but which provide insights into Franklin’s private and public life during the course of this volume. Account I ( XXIII , 19), Franklin’s Wastebook, gives some of his expenditures: the...
150033To Benjamin Franklin from Joan Derk van der Capellen tot den Pol, 6 September[–after 14 December 1778] (Franklin Papers)
Translations: Public Record Office, National Archives; incomplete ALS : American Philosophical Society; incomplete copies: National Archives, Connecticut State Library, Massachusetts Historical Society (two) I took the liberty to write you a Letter dated Zwol April 28. this year, and I was about writting you a second to inquire if you had received the first, when I found myself honoured with a...
150034Editorial Note on Franklin’s Accounts, 1778 (Franklin Papers)
For the period covered by this volume we have four new accounts: XIX. Franklin’s Account with Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, June 12, 1777, to May 28, 1784: American Philosophical Society, 18 pp. With the exception of an item for repairs to the packet La Mère Bobie ( XXIV , 3n) dated June 12, 1777, all the entries are dated January 1, 1779, or after. Accompanying the statements of...
150035Editorial Note on the Preface to a Reprinting of James Logan’s Cato Major, 1778 (Franklin Papers)
M.T. Cicero’s Cato Major, or Discourse on Old Age. Addressed to Titus Pomponius Atticus. With Explanatory Notes. By Benj. Franklin, LL. D. London: Printed for Fielding and Walker, Pater-Noster Row. MDCCLXXVIII. James Logan’s translation of Cicero’s discourse on old age was first printed on Franklin’s press in Philadelphia in 1744 with Franklin’s preface, “The Printer to the Reader.” The...
150036Franklin: A List of Names [1778?] (Franklin Papers)
AD : American Philosophical Society The list is so heterogeneous that we tentatively suggest its purpose was social. Six of the men listed here were BF ’s colleagues in the Académie royale des sciences: the mathematician Condorcet ( XX , 489n), the chemist Lavoisier ( XXIV , 142n), the philosophe and former government minister Turgot ( XXIII , 479), the marquis de Courtanvaux (a soldier and...
150037Marie Silvestre Grand to Franklin and John Adams, [1778?] (Franklin Papers)
AL : American Philosophical Society Mde Grand prie Messieurs Franklin et adams de venir prendre le thé cette a près midi chez elle mr le roi y sera et fera la parti du cher papa. Addressed: A Monsieur / Monsieur Franklin Mme. Ferdinand Grand, whose last extant invitation to the commissioners had been in May, 1778: XXVI , 399–400. While the present letter may date from JA ’s return to Paris in...
150038To Benjamin Franklin from Edward Bancroft, [1778?] (Franklin Papers)
ALS : American Philosophical Society I inclose you a Letter which came to my hands last Evening & wh. needs no Comment from me— Mr. Grand commissioned me to desire that you would this Evening favour him with something which is to be sent to Amsterdam & wh. he shall have an opportunity of sending early tomorrow Morning— Not finding you at home I am constrained to execute my Commission in this...
150039To Benjamin Franklin from Madame Brillon, [1778?] (Franklin Papers)
AL : American Philosophical Society j’avois chargé mr L’abbé de st non d’amenér ce soir chéz moi a l’heure du thé mr charpentiér l’habil méchanicien dont je vous ai parlé pour des présses; il est impossible a l’abbé de venir ce soir, et mr. charpentiér bien empréssé de vous estre présenté, est venu m’apportér la léttre de l’abbé; il vous reméttra ce mot; C’est un homme de la plus grande...
150040To Benjamin Franklin from Madame Brillon: Five Social Notes circa 1778 (Franklin Papers)
(I), (II), (III), (IV), (V) AL : American Philosophical Society Mon bon papa, j’éspére que vous viendrés prendre le thé cétte aprés disné; je ne sçaurois vous dire a qu’el point je m’énnuye de ne vous point voir, c’est aussi vrai qu’il est vrai que pérsonne dans les quatre parties du monde ne vous aime autant que moi: L’envie extrésme que j’ai toujours de passér quelques moments avéc vous mon...