The incredible journey of Benjamin Franklin’s Way to Wealth--and its bibliographical traces

Benjamin Franklin’s “Way to Wealth” began its existence in Philadelphia as the untitled preface to Poor Richard’s Almanac for 1758. Despite not having a formal title—or author’s name—and despite being published on the periphery of the British Empire, it gradually spread around the world, eventually being published in twenty-six languages, in well over a thousand appearances. Franklin’s paean to hard work and frugality was issued for a variety of audiences, from elites to peasants and servants, and in formats ranging from newspapers to advice manuals to schoolbooks. Thanks to digitization, it has been possible to produce a bibliography that describes distinct appearances, not just editions. This lecture will explain the process by which Franklin’s anonymous text spread widely and deeply into the Western world.