Benjamin Franklin | First collected edition of Franklin's works in French, a presentation copy to Aimé-Ambroise-Joseph Feutry

Benjamin Franklin

Oeuvres de M. Franklin. Paris: Chez Quillau, Esprit, et L'auteur, 1773

2 volumes bound together (275 x 192 mm). Two half titles, an engraved portrait frontispiece, woodcut and typographic ornaments in text, 5 engraved plates at the rear of vol. I, and 7 engraved plates at the rear of vol. II; occasional light foxing, infrequent minor soiling, a few very lightly toned leaves, expert paper repairs to the margins of the frontispiece. Contemporary French mottled calf, spine and board-edges decorated in gilt, red morocco spine label lettered in gilt, all edges stained red, green silk ribbon; a few small scuffs, expert restorations to the joints, a superficial crack at the head of the front joint, a small bump at the foot of the front board, altogether a very attractive and well-preserved book.

A presentation copy of the first French-language edition of Franklin's collected works, inscribed by Franklin to his friend and fellow polymath, Aimé-Ambroise-Joseph Feutry on the half-title: “A Mons. Feutry. From the Author,” and inscribed in another hand on the title, "Donné à Feutry, par l'auteur, Le 16 Avril 1777."

This edition was translated and edited by another friend of Franklin, Jacques Barbeu-Dubourg. It was based on the fourth English language edition, but also includes numerous previously unpublished texts.

The first volume is devoted to electricity, printing the entirety of Experiments and Observations on Electricity, along with 28 additional texts by Franklin, his correspondents, and the editor. The second volume covers a wide array of topics, such as meteors, inoculation, evaporation, sea water, politics, and much more. It reprints many of Franklin's popular essays, including "The Pennsylvania Fireplace," "Observations on the Increase of Mankind," and "The Art of Swimming." It also includes a series of letters to Miss Stevenson, known as the Craven Street letters. This edition's version of Poor Richard, is titled "Le Moyen De S'Enrichir … par le Pauvre Henri." This is the earliest dated version of the Poor Richard text using "The Way to Wealth" as its title — moving forward, this would become its most common title, used consistently throughout the next century (Green and Stallybrass, p. 130). This volume also adds 27 additional unpublished texts by Franklin, his correspondents, and Barbeu-Dubourg.

Aimé-Ambroise-Joseph Feutry (1720–1789) abandoned a career as lawyer to become a writer, mostly composing poetry, including some in praise of the American Revolution. He was interested in ballistics, and invented a number of military machines. Feutry was also a member of the American Philosophical Society, nominated by Franklin. He wrote two verses praising his friend, published in his Nouveaux Opuscules (1779), which references his APS membership on the title-page.

Though a member of Franklin's social and intellectual circle in Passy, no letters from Franklin to Feutry survive. Their relationship is instead documented through a series of letters between Feutry and Franklin's grandson, William Temple Franklin. The annotation on the title page, presumably by Feutry, dates the gift to 16 April, 1777, a matter of months after Franklin's arrival in Paris.

For another book translated into French by Barbeu-Dubourg, also having belonged to Franklin, see lot 104.

REFERENCES

Ford, 315; James N. Green and Peter Stallybrass, Benjamin Franklin: Writer and Printer (2006), p. 130; Papers of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Willcox, 23:557

PROVENANCE

Aimé-Ambroise-Joseph Feutry (presentation inscription from Benjamin Franklin)