Books

Paris: Chez Buisson, Libraire, rue Haute-feuille, No. 20, 1791. 2 parts in 1 volume. 8vo. (7 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches). First edition. a4 A-I8 K6 A-M8 N6. [2], vi, 156; 207 [1] 380 pp. pp. 204-207 misnumbered as 360-363 as issued. Title page with woodcut printer's device, on laid paper. Text in French. Title, Preface, Part One: Chapters I-VII, Part Two: Chapters I-VIII, Recueil, La Science du Bonhomme Richard, Table of Contents. Contemporary tree calf binding rebacked with brown leather ruled blind into six compartments, with grey marbled endpapers on laid paper, housed in tan custom clamshell box with gilt-lettered spine. Two leaves with brown spots touching letters First edition, preceding any English printing, of Franklin's canonical autobiography. "The most widely read of all American autobiographies." [Grolier] "This book holds the essence of the American way of life." [Grolier] Franklin's best-know and most well-read book, a classic Americanum in which Franklin regales us with…