Wood, Gordon S. (Franklin, Benjamin)

The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin

ISBN: 9781594200199
New York, NY: The Penguin Press, 2004. First Edition. Hardcover. “[I]t is a relatively selective study, focusing on specific aspects of this extraordinary man’s life that reveal a Benjamin Franklin who is different in important ways from the Franklin of our inherited common understanding,” (preface). In the two-hundred-some years since Benjamin Franklin (1705-1790) died, he has been oversimplified in the minds of Americans, according to Gordon Wood (b. 1933). Many aspects of Franklin’s life are largely unknown, and speculation has run rampant in media and biographies. Personal details and relationships are shaded with the morality of today, and his personal motivation for many of his major decisions was more complex than most Americans ever learned. Wood endeavors to set the record straight by contextualizing Franklin’s decisions and exploring the way his reputation has been affected through the years. Though he is the emblematic image of “American,” he was not known as such in his lifetime. Loyal to the British Crown longer than most, amenable to the French as America’s envoy, and hesitant with the revolutionary mindset of his contemporaries, Franklin’s career was rife with hostility and judgment that was generally scrubbed from the collective memory that created his cultural reputation. His impact on the American culture is undeniable, but he is portrayed as a caricature, focusing only on what he has given us. The polished and respectable entrepreneurial inventor that helped found our nation was also an imperfect human. There is more to his character and his mind than just the bullet points in a history book, and Wood endeavors to introduce the reader to the real Benjamin Franklin of the 18th century. From the collection of Russel Taylor Weil (b. 1927), a prominent retired attorney & collector from Washington, DC. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket: First Edition, First Printing, as indicated by number sequence on copyright page. Book is in Very Fine condition with only slight bumping to the corners of front, back covers and minor rubbing to same. Dust jacket is in Near Fine condition with mild bumping to the corners of front, back covers and mild peeling along the creases of the flaps, otherwise Fine. Very Fine / Near Fine. [Item #5741]

Price: $40.00