Beschreibung:

FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN, Signer (Pennsylvania). Autograph letter signed ("BFranklin"), to the London printer and publisher William Strahan, Philadelphia, 21 March 1752. 1 page, 8vo, 210 x 162mm. (8 1/4 x 6 1/2 in.), integral address leaf in Franklin's hand, faint mat burn from a previous frame, two small light stains, a clean tear along fold at right-hand margin, address leaf with strip of old paper tape at top edge. FRANKLIN TO STRAHAN Benjamin Franklin writes to the famous London printer, paying a bill and commenting on some book orders. "I wrote to you in the Winter via New York, for a few Books, and sent a [second] Bill of #30 Barbad[oe]s Currency... I hope it come[s] to hand time enough for you to meet with the Gent[lema]n and get the money. He is Capt. of a ship, and was to be found at the New England Coffee House, but probably may be gone before you receive this. They were mostly School Books, and I have mislaid the original List, so [I] cannot send a copy. The Books for the Trenton [New Jersey] Library arrived safe, and I believe gave Satisfaction. I want yet Vol[ume] 7 of the Universal History in blue covers, to compleat my Set. My Wife & Children join in sincerest Wishes of Happiness..." William Strahan (1715-1785) was a lifelong correspondent of Franklin's. "Strahan made his mark in the printing business, publishing Johnson's Dictionary , Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations , and Gibbons's Decline and Fall . David Hall Franklin's partner in Philadelphia, had served as Strahan's apprentice... He stayed a loyal friend to Franklin through all the trials [the Revolution] ahead," (Wright, Franklin of Philadelphia , p. 125).