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FRANKLIN, Benjamin (printer) - Alexander ARSCOT. S

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Philadelphia: B. Franklin, 1732. 2 parts in one volume, small 8vo (143 x 90 mm). Modern antique calf. Condition: minor browning and staining. Provenance: John Armitt (signature on the title). first complete american edition and an early work from franklin's press. Published at the expense of the Friends of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Franklin first separately published the first part of Arscot's pro-Quaker work the year prior to this complete edition. In the work Arscot, a clergyman and educator from Bristol, responds to Richard Smalbroke's anti-Quaker arguments. Included in this work are two advertisements by Franklin for books (published by others) that he is offering for sale. The publication of such tracts on behalf of the Society of Friends proved to be among Franklin's most profitable undertakings. "From 1728 to 1748 (when he retired from active involvement in the printing business) Franklin printed 432 identified books, pamphlets, and broadsides, of which 241 (56 percent) can be shown by his records to have been published (that is paid for) by others" (Benjamin Franklin in Search of a Better World, p. 75). The early owner of this volume, John Armitt, was an active public figure in the city during the mid-18th century and was among the founders of both the Union Fire Company and the Pennsylvania Hospital and was an early member of the Library Company. Campbell 35; Evans 3500 and 3501; Hildeburn 435; Miller 47.

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