Happy Birthday, Benjamin Franklin!

Today would be the 306^th birthday of Benjamin Franklin, whose contributions stretched far beyond his role as Founding Father. The polymath inventor was a significant figure in the American Enlightenment, paving the way for the evolution of politics, science, and even the country’s infrastructure.

Humble Beginnings

Franklin’s father, Josiah Franklin, was a soap and candle maker who emigrated to Boston with his first wife, Anne Child, in 1683. The two had seven children together before Anne passed away. Josiah remarried Abiah Folger in 1689; Benjamin was their eighth child—and Josiah’s fifteenth.

Franklin’s parents had little money, so Franklin received only a few years of formal education. He continued on his own, reading everything he could get his hands on. When Franklin was 12, he began an apprenticeship with his older brother James, learning the printing industry.

Launching a New Career

Five years later he ran away to Philadelphia, effectively making him a fugitive! Franklin soon established himself as a leader in Philadelphia’s intellectual community. He was made Grand Master of the local Masonic lodge by 1734, a title that illustrates his esteem in the community. Here’s a look at other, lesser known milestones in Franklin’s life and career:

In 1730 Franklin entered a common-law marriage with Deborah Read after her husband ran off with her dowry. Franklin had proposed to Deborah years before, when she was fifteen, but her mother objected to their match.
Deborah allowed Franklin’s illegitimate son, William, to become a part of their family. William grew up to be the last Loyalist governor in the colonies, for which his father could never forgive him. The two were estranged, and William eventually settled in England.
Franklin was a prolific inventor. He is credited with creating the lightning rod, bifocal glasses, and the Franklin stove, among many others. He never sought patents for his inventions, noting that they should be used for bettering society.
Always interested in expediting news delivery, Franklin began to explore ocean currents and their effect on the duration of ocean voyages. With the help of his cousin, he identified and named the Gulf Stream, which had a significant impact on nautical exploration and seafaring.
Franklin and his contemporary Leonhard Euler were the only major scientists of the time to support the wave theory of light. A major underpinning of modern physics, this theory is the basic basis for the work of countless modern scientists, including Stephen Hawking.
Though the field of economics would not be recognized until Adam Smith published Wealth of Nations in 1775, Franklin lent an economist’s eye to issues affecting farmers, such as price controls and subsidies for the poor. He also strongly advocated the use of paper money over metal-based currency.
Franklin was the first chess player recognized by name in the American colonies. An avid player, he was also one of the earliest authors to address the game. Franklin was even inducted into the US Chess Players’ Hall of Fame in 1999.

All the while, Franklin built an extraordinary reputation as a statesman and diplomat. Though Franklin would never serve as President, his revolutionary spirit and academic achievements have earned him a place as a truly beloved figure in American history. Franklin’s legacy of excellence remains an inspiration every day.

Add comment January 17th, 2012

The Most Elusive of Rare Books

Book collecting is an incredibly accessible pastime—collectors can spend as much or as little as they’d like, and there is plenty of information available to inform their choices. Some rare books, however, are so scarce that only the most elite can afford them. Here’s a look at some of the rarest books in the world.

How’s That for a First Edition?

The first item that Gutenberg printed on his revolutionary invention was, naturally, the Bible. As you can imagine, the first edition of the world’s first book is a pretty hot commodity. Several hundred copies were printed, and of course many of those were ruined or destroyed. Intact copies go for $25 to 35 million.

The 1456 Gutenberg Bible is also one of the few books that still retains high value even when incomplete. It was originally printed in two volumes, and a single volume sold for $5.5 million 25 years ago. Imagine what that would be today, with inflation! Meanwhile, individual pages have been valued at as much as $25,000. Even Bibles with an original page of a Gutenberg Bible tipped in have extraordinary value.

Bill Gates purchased Leonardo da Vinci’s manuscripts for $30 million almost three decades ago, and experts estimate they’d now be worth over three times that. Meanwhile the first edition of Shakespeare’s complete works (printed in 1623) sold for $6 million.

Rarities from the New World

Across the ocean inNorth America, the seeds of a new country were slowly sprouting. Early Pilgrims swore on “A Freeman’s Oath,” Although there is plenty of documentation that the book was printed, not a single copy is known to survive. If one were to surface, it would likely be worth at least $1 million.

Skip forward a few years; imagine the Founding Fathers introducing the Declaration of Independence. Once the document was ratified, copies were printed inPhiladelphia and distributed throughout the colonies. These first editions don’t have signatures, but the last one sold went for $80 million.

Another rarity from theNew Worldis Edgar Allen Poe’s first poem, “Tamerlane” (1827). The poem itself is actually pretty terrible–which may be why Poe didn’t put his name on it! Instead, the byline reads only “By a Bostonian,” so many less experienced collectors don’t recognize the work’s value. But a copy recently sold for $198,000.

But these older books aren’t the only ones that have high value. Plenty of modern first editions are quickly gaining value. How closely do you follow the value of books in your collection?

2 comments July 13th, 2011