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Benjamin Franklin's career as a printer served as the foundation for his incredible accomplishments to further America's cause.  His great influence among his countrymen stemmed from a combination of his industriousness and his ability to use the printing press to advance his viewpoints on the issues of the day.  This is a copy of the Benjamin Franklin's paper, the Pennsylvania Gazette.  Franklin purchased the business in 1729, and personally ran the business until he entered into a partnership with David Hall in January, 1748.  While later copies of the Pennsylvania Gazette, with the Franklin and Hall imprint on the bottom of Page 4 exist, copies of the paper that were printed when Franklin was sole proprietor, such as this example, are very rare.  It indicates that the paper was printed by Franklin himself, while he was present at the shop.  In fact, though he had assistance from workers in the shop, in all possibility he may have personally set the type and pull the press for this issue.

This particular issue is a fine example of Franklin using the paper to shape public opinion on an issue of the day.  The first column features a letter supposedly written to Franklin from a concerned citizen, who makes the case that Quakers who defend themselves and take up arms are not necessarily in violation of their religious beliefs toward pacifism.  The issue of the day involved threats to the western settlements of Pennsylvania from the French and Indians, and the fact that many Quakers expected others to come to their defense without them personally taking up arms in their own defense.  The letter, in fact, was written by Franklin himself, and published in his own paper.  Original early examples of the Pennsylvania Gazette published under Franklin's own imprint, with Franklin as the sole proprietor of the paper, are rare surviving examples of early Americana that have personal and direct ties to a man that many consider to be the "First American".


 
An original copy of the Pennsylvania Gazette printed by Benjamin Franklin during the time when Franklin was sole proprietor of his Philadelphia print shop.   Media:  Printed Paper

Dates:  November 5, 1747

War:  French and Indian War

Type:  Printed Paper

Catalog Number:  IAS-00025


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General George Washington
Revolutionary War Era
Circa 1780

 


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