The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
A Printer, a Philosopher, an Inventor — and the Making of an American Life
Few books about an American life have had the extraordinary afterlife of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. Written over several decades and left unfinished at Franklin's death in 1790, the book is at once a memoir, a record of eighteenth-century life, and an account of how a young printer from Boston built an unusually wide-ranging career. The Library of Congress describes it as both an important historical document and Franklin's major literary work. (Research Guides)
What makes the book particularly interesting is that Franklin does not begin with the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, or his diplomatic career. Instead, he takes the reader backward—to childhood, family, apprenticeship, books, work, mistakes, ambition, and the gradual construction of a life.
The Boy from Boston
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston in 1706, the fifteenth child of Josiah Franklin and the youngest son. His father was a candle and soap maker, and the young Franklin grew up in a large working household.
Formal schooling occupied only a small part of Franklin's education. He left school while still young and became an apprentice to his older brother James, a printer. Printing introduced him to something that would shape his entire life: the power of reading and writing to circulate ideas.
His brother published The New-England Courant, and Franklin secretly contributed pieces to the newspaper under the name Silence Dogood. The letters were published without James initially knowing that his younger brother was the author.
The episode reveals one of the recurring themes of the autobiography: Franklin's determination to educate himself and find a way forward, even when conventional opportunities were limited.
Philadelphia and the Young Printer
Franklin eventually left Boston and traveled to Philadelphia as a teenager. His arrival there became one of the defining episodes of the book.
He describes himself as a young man with little money but considerable confidence in his ability to work. Philadelphia offered him the possibility of establishing himself as a printer, and he eventually became an independent printer and publisher.
His career expanded considerably. He became associated with The Pennsylvania Gazette and later published Poor Richard's Almanack, using the fictional persona Richard Saunders.
The almanac became famous for its sayings about work, thrift, prudence, and practical living. Franklin's writing helped establish him not simply as a printer, but as a public intellectual whose ideas reached a broad readership.
The Art of Self-Education
Perhaps the most recognizable feature of Franklin's autobiography is its attention to self-improvement.
Franklin describes reading as one of the great forces in his development. Books allowed him to acquire knowledge beyond what his formal schooling had provided. He also developed habits of observation, discussion, writing, experimentation, and reflection.
His approach to education was practical. Knowledge was not merely something to possess; it could be applied to business, civic life, science, communication, and everyday problems.
This helps explain why the autobiography became important far beyond Franklin's own lifetime. Readers could encounter not only the story of a historical figure but also an account of how he believed a person could deliberately develop his abilities.
The Thirteen Virtues
One of the most famous sections of the autobiography concerns Franklin's attempt to cultivate thirteen virtues.
They included:
Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquillity, Chastity, and Humility.
Franklin created a system for monitoring his conduct, recording whether he had failed to observe a particular virtue each day.
The project is characteristic of the way he approached self-improvement: he tried to turn an abstract ideal into a practical system.
Yet Franklin also acknowledges the difficulty of the undertaking. His account does not portray perfection as easily achieved. Instead, it documents an ongoing attempt to discipline his habits and character.
From Printer to Scientist
The autobiography also belongs to the story of Franklin's transformation from tradesman to scientist and civic figure.
His experiments with electricity became internationally significant. The famous kite experiment is associated with his investigations into the electrical nature of lightning, while his work with electricity contributed terminology and observations that became part of scientific history.
Franklin was also involved in practical inventions and improvements, including the Franklin stove, and he developed bifocal spectacles.
The breadth of these interests is one of the striking aspects of his life. Printing, writing, science, public institutions and politics were not separate worlds for Franklin. They overlapped within the same career.
Building Institutions
Franklin's autobiography also records his growing involvement in Philadelphia's civic life.
He helped establish organizations and institutions intended to serve the public. Among these was the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded through a subscription model in 1731–32. He was also involved in the creation of the Pennsylvania Hospital and the educational institution that developed into the University of Pennsylvania.
The Library of Congress notes that Franklin devoted substantial effort throughout his life to education and civic improvement. (Library of Congress)
His autobiography therefore becomes more than a personal story. It becomes a window into the development of civic institutions in eighteenth-century Philadelphia.
The Missing Revolution
One of the most interesting facts about the Autobiography is what it does not contain.
Franklin became one of the most important American diplomats and statesmen of the Revolutionary era, yet the autobiography gives comparatively little attention to the American Revolution itself.
The four sections Franklin completed concentrate largely on his earlier and formative years: his childhood, apprenticeship, arrival in Philadelphia, development as a printer and scientist, and civic activities. (Research Guides)
Consequently, readers expecting a complete account of Franklin's life will discover that it is not that book.
It is, instead, Franklin's account of how he became Benjamin Franklin.
A Book Written in Four Stages
The history of the manuscript is almost as fascinating as the autobiography itself.
Franklin began the first part in 1771, while he was in England. He addressed it as a letter to his son, William Franklin. More than a decade later, he resumed the work in France, writing Part Two in 1784.
Parts Three and Four followed later, with Part Three written around 1788–89. Part Four was written during the final months of his life. Franklin never completed the autobiography as originally envisioned. (Research Guides)
This explains why the work can sometimes feel like a collection of different periods and purposes rather than a seamlessly planned modern memoir.
The Strange Journey to Publication
Franklin died in April 1790, before his autobiography could be published in its final form.
Unauthorized extracts began appearing in Philadelphia magazines soon afterward. The first book-length version appeared in French in 1791, followed by an English edition in London in 1793.
Because different manuscript copies were used, early editions did not necessarily contain everything Franklin had written or his later revisions.
It was not until 1868, with John Bigelow's edition, that all four parts were published together in English from Franklin's final manuscript. (Research Guides)
That complicated publication history is an important part of the book's story.
Franklin as a Literary Self-Portrait
The Autobiography is fascinating because Franklin is simultaneously the author and the subject.
He chooses which experiences to remember, which failures to discuss, which achievements to emphasize, and how to present the development of his character.
That makes the book valuable as both biography and historical evidence—but it should also be read as Franklin's own construction of his life story.
He was not simply recording everything that happened to him. He was explaining what he believed those experiences meant.
Why the Book Endures
More than two centuries after Franklin's death, the Autobiography remains significant because it sits at the intersection of several subjects: literature, history, science, publishing, education, business and American civic life.
It captures an eighteenth-century world in which a printer could become a scientist, publisher, inventor, civic organizer, diplomat and statesman.
The Library of Congress notes that the work became one of the enduringly popular examples of the autobiography genre and an important source for understanding Franklin's ideas about wealth, virtue and civic participation. (Research Guides)
There is also something unusually intimate about reading Franklin describe his younger self. The great statesman begins here not as a finished historical figure, but as a boy in Boston, a difficult apprentice, a young printer, a reader, a writer and a young man trying to determine what kind of life he might build.
The Book as a Portrait of Becoming
The enduring subject of The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is therefore not simply Benjamin Franklin.
It is becoming.
Franklin presents a life shaped through work, reading, experimentation, mistakes, discipline, relationships and public service. His story moves from the printing shop to the laboratory, from the private pursuit of knowledge to civic institutions and eventually onto the international stage.
The book remains one of the great historical examples of a person attempting to explain how a life is made—one decision, habit, experiment and opportunity at a time.
Book Note
Title: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Author: Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)
Genre: Autobiography / Memoir / American history
Written: 1771–1790, in four sections
First book-length publication: 1791, in French
First English edition: 1793
First complete English publication from Franklin's final manuscript: 1868 (Research Guides)
For readers interested in: American history, biography, literature, science, publishing, self-education and the intellectual life of the eighteenth century.
Historical note: The Library of Congress holds digitized editions of Franklin's autobiography, including nineteenth- and early twentieth-century editions that are in the public domain. (Library of Congress)