To Benjamin Franklin from Edward Nairne: Bill and Receipt, 6 September 1765
From Edward Nairne:2 Bill and Receipt
DS: American Philosophical Society
Lond. Sepr. 6. 1765
Dr. Franklyn
Bot. of Edwd. Nairne
| £ | s | D | ||
| an Achromatic prospective Glass. with two Eye Glasses in one Slider. that Magnifies Different3 |  |
1: | 15: | – |
| a Set of 6 Inch Magnetts in Mahogany Case | 1: | 16: | – | |
| an Electrical Machine, with: 6 Inch Globe in a plain box4 | |
6: | 16: | 6 |
| Packing Case Tow and Screws | — | 3: | 6 | |
| £10: | 11: | — |
Recd Janry 25: 1766 the Contents
Edwd: Nairne
2. On Edward Nairne, instrument maker, see above, X, 171 n.
3. The first two purchases listed here are recorded, together with other charges by Nairne, in BF’s Journal, 1764–1776, p. 7, and in his Ledger, 1764–1776, pp. 5, 16, in December 1765 but without specific date.
4. BF recorded the purchase of the electrical machine and its packing case (at a total cost of £7) in Journal, 1764–1776, p. 4, under date of Sept. 4, 1765, as “James Parker Dr to Edwd. Nairne an Electrical Machine did [delivered] him by Hugh Hughes,” and in Ledger, 1764–1776, pp. 10, 16. Later correspondence shows that Hugh Hughes of New York had asked BF to send him certain goods, including this machine, but that when it arrived he found that it cost much more than he had anticipated and he was virtually insolvent anyway. On his financial difficulties, see above, p. 232. Parker assumed responsibility for the matter, but it dragged on with no record of a final settlement. BF probably never got back the £7 he paid Nairne.