The Autobiography of Ben Franklin

There are few books that I have read over and over again, and this is one of them.  It's a little book having only 164 pages within its cover, yet it is packed with valuable advice, bits of wisdom, historical references and a great deal of humor.  To me, those elements make it a great read.  I read it first when I was in high school.

The book is written for his son but if you are a lover of early American history you will love this book.  It follows Franklin from his arrival to Philadelphia by boat in 1724 through his life as a business leader, a respected leader in society, an invento.  It stops in 1757 so there is little about him as a Statesmen.  It's divided into three parts and in part two he list the Thirteen Virtues that guide him throughout his entire life.  This is a very principled man and I think he may have been a little too frugal for me, but I would love to have known him. There  are quite a few funny parts in the book such as when his wife bought china and new silverware when he thought his one bowl and spoon were sufficient.

I've always loved the history as well as the city of Philadelphia and when you read Franklin it is like walking down the streets of history in the 18th century.  He talks about the wharf on Market street where he arrived by boat,  about his printing house and all the houses he lived in and owned and you feel as though you are back in time.  The grammar in the book is a little strange because he capitalizes almost every other word. It adds to the sense of time.

The breath of this man's abilities is staggering.  He briefly mentions the stove he invented  and the Library Company he started in 1731 which is the first lending library in the country - and is still in operation.  Somewhere in the 1740s he became very concerned about the status of defense since Philadelphia had a regiment but little fire power and also the education of youth.  He talks about the defense of the colonies and how he used a lottery system to finance building a Battery to house canons and later persuaded the Gov of New York to give to him 16 canons for the building. Thats another humorous part in the book, the Governor at first having no intentions of giving anything to Franklin. There was a point where nothing happened in Philadelphia unless it had Franklin's blessing.

This is a great book about a great man, in a great country, at a great moment in time.