Selected Bibliography
Starred items are of primary importance.
I. Works
Only the most useful and historically significant editions are here listed. The student interested in other editions of Franklin's works, the publication of his separate pamphlets, his contributions to newspapers and periodicals, and his editorial activities should consult P. L. Ford's Franklin Bibliography. Many of these items are conveniently listed in The Cambridge History of American Literature, I, 442 ff.
Experiments and Observations on Electricity, made at Philadelphia in America, By Mr. Benjamin Franklin, and Communicated in several Letters to P. Collinson, of London, F. R. S. London: 1751. (For various editions and translations of this and the supplementary letters added to first edition, consult Ford's Bibliography.)
Political, Miscellaneous, and Philosophical Pieces;... Written by Benj. Franklin, LL. D. and F. R. S.... Now first collected, With Explanatory Plates, Notes,... [ed. by Benjamin Vaughan]. London: 1779. ("The work is ably performed, many pieces being for the first time printed as Franklin's; and contains valuable notes. But what gives a special value to this collection is that it is the only edition of Franklin's writings [other than his scientific], which was printed during his life time; was done with Franklin's knowledge and consent, and contains an 'errata' made by him for it" [Ford, p. 161]. Review in Monthly Review, LXII, 199-210, 298-308, describes his electrical experiments as constituting a "principia" of electricity. See also Smyth, VII, 410-13, for Franklin's own opinion.)
Mémoires de la vie privée de Benjamin Franklin, écrits par luimême, et adressés à son fils; suivis d'un précis historique de sa vie politique, et de plusieurs pièces, relatives à ce père de la liberté. Paris: 1791. (First edition of Franklin's Autobiography to the year 1731; translation attributed to Dr. Jacques Gibelin. "The remainder of his life is a translation from Wilmer's Memoirs of Franklin, with the most objectionable statements omitted" [Ford, p. 183]. For a succinct history of Autobiography, editions, printing, translation, and fortunes of the MS see Bigelow's introduction to Autobiography.)
Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin, LL. D. F. R. S. &c.... Written by himself to a late period, and continued to the time of his death, by his Grandson; William Temple Franklin. Now first published from the original MSS.... 3 vols. London: 1818. (The standard collection, according to A. H. Smyth, until Sparks's edition. Representative review in Analectic Magazine, XI, 449-84, June, 1818.)
The Works of Benjamin Franklin; containing several political and historical tracts not included in any former edition, and many letters official and private not hitherto published; with notes and a life of the author, by Jared Sparks. 10 vols. Boston: 1836-1840. (Although Sparks took undesirable editorial liberties with the MSS, rephrasing, emending, and deleting, this edition still possesses value for its notes and inclusion of pieces which Smyth does not include, but which may have been written by Franklin. Includes many valuable letters to Franklin. For reviews see North American Review, LIX, 446, and LXXXIII, 402.)
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Edited from his Manuscript, with Notes and an Introduction, by John Bigelow. Philadelphia: 1868. (To quote Ford: "This is not only the first appearance of the autobiography from Franklin's own copy, but also the first publication in English of the four parts, and the first publication of the very important 'outline' autobiography. It is therefore the first edition of the autobiography" [p. 199].)
The Life of Benjamin Franklin, written by himself. Now first edited from original manuscripts and from his printed correspondence and other writings, by John Bigelow. 3 vols. Philadelphia: 1874. (Bigelow text of Autobiography and extracts from Franklin's other works.)
The Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin including his private as well as his official and scientific correspondence, and numerous letters and documents now for the first time printed with many others not included in any former collection, also the unmutilated and correct version of his autobiography. Comp. and ed. by John Bigelow. 10 vols. New York: 1887-1889. (Corrects many of Sparks's errors and adds "some six hundred new pieces." For first time works are chronologically arranged.)
*The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, collected and edited with a Life and Introduction, by Albert Henry Smyth. 10 vols. New York: 1905-1907. (The standard edition. It is unfortunate that the editor has omitted pieces which are either too Rabelaisian or too metaphysically radical, such as the Dissertation of 1725, or are, in his mind, probably not written by Franklin.)