(Benjamin Franklin) | Adventures of Franklin, illustrated school worksheet

(Benjamin Franklin)

Adventures of Franklin, illustrated school exercise worksheet. London: Publish'd by W. & T. Darton, April 5, 1808

Engraved writing blank (478 x 384 mm). Ten engraved vignettes, inscribed by a student; edges toned and chipped with a few short closed tears, two repaired at verso, short puncture within ink line under the "ov" of "Improvement," a few stray spots and stains, blue ink spots to verso. Glazed and framed (525 x 430 mm).

A charming glimpse into Franklin's legacy among students abroad.

The present exercise worksheet features ten vignettes of various scenes from Franklin's life, with a central blank for a student's penmanship practice. Among the scenes are young Franklin with his father, apprenticing at his brother's printing-house, distributing newspapers, leaving Boston, arriving in Philadelphia for the first time, serving as an ambassador in Paris, becoming President of Pennsylvania, conducting his kite experiment, opening his printing shop, and attending a Quaker Meeting.

The worksheet was printed in London and presumably completed by a young English schoolchild, demonstrating Franklin's international reach. The student has written in an elegant hand a maxim not from Father Abraham, but from Proverbs: "Improvement. Train up a Child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Similar examples are held at the Bodleian Library and American Philosophical Society.

REFERENCES

Cf. American Philosophical Society, Mss.973.C683; University of Oxford, Bodleian Library educational folder 5 (21a)