Experiments and Observations on Electricity, Made at Philadelphia in America, by Benjamin Franklin, L.L.D. and F.R.S. To Which Are Added, Letters and Papers on Philosophical Subjects. The Whole Corrected, Methodized, Improved, and Now First Collected into One Volume, and Illustrated with Copper Plates

Franklin, Benjamin

Published by Printed for David Henry; and sold by Francis Newbery, at the Corner of St. Paul's Church-Yard, London, 1769

About this Item

Fourth edition, First complete edition of "the most important scientific book of 18th-century America" and "America's first great scientific contribution" (PMM). Earlier editions, each issued in three parts as separately published pamphlets usually bound together, were carelessly published. [4], iv, 113, 112 - 472, 465 - 496, [16] pp. Laid paper, 7 copperplate engravings, of which 2 are foldout; errata and advertisement leaf at front and 16-page index at rear. The errata page notes the mispagination of two sections: "In numbering of the pages, 112, 113, are repeated; as are also pages 465 to 472." Collated complete. Quarto, half leather over marbled paper. Skillfully rebacked in calf, contemporary morocco title label laid onto spine, endpapers preserved. Near Fine with age-suitable wear and fading to covers, rubbing to extremities; binding firm and square. Contents lightly toned with scattered foxing, offsetting from engravings, and occasional stains, pencil notations, and ink marks. 2 3/4 inch tear to lower edge of Plate 3. Contemporary gift inscription to half-title page: "From Miss Johnstone, Edinburgh, 13 St. John St." Housed in a custom cloth slipcase. The most significant American scientific work of the eighteenth century. Benjamin Franklin began studying electricity in the 1740s, intrigued by the scientific reports coming from Europe. He famously identified the electrical charge of lightning using an iron key tied to a kite string in 1751, and published his sensational Experiments and Observations on Electricity in parts that same year. This fourth edition from 1769 is the first complete edition, issued in one volume instead of individual parts. It is more than triple the length of the third edition and includes the complete notes on all of Franklin s experiments, as well as the polymath s lively correspondence with his peers and collaborators. An excellent copy of a great work from the Founding Father, published while he was in England desperately striving for a peaceful compromise between Great Britain and its American colonies. Howes F320, Printing and the Mind of Man 199.

Seller Inventory # 140947827

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Experiments and Observations on Electricity, Made at Philadelphia in America, by Benjamin Franklin, L.L.D. and F.R.S. To Which Are Added, Letters and Papers on Philosophical Subjects. The Whole Corrected, Methodized, Improved, and Now First Collected into One Volume, and Illustrated with Copper Plates
• Publisher: Printed for David Henry; and sold by Francis Newbery, at the Corner of St. Paul's Church-Yard, London
• Publication Date: 1769
• Edition: Fourth Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Americana
  • Science
  • Essays
  • Physics