The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Now Printed from the Manuscript as Franklin Wrote It, and Including His Preliminary Outline (The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written)

xxxiii, [1], 233, [5] pp. Tall 8vo. Maroon full leather, gilt titles and decorations, all edges gilt, silk moire endpapers, ribbon marker bound in. Reproductions of early maps precede text, color frontispiece portrait of Benjamin Franklin, engraved illustrations in text. Includes introduction by Carl Van Doren. "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is the traditional name for the unfinished record of his own life written by Benjamin Franklin from 1771 to 1790; however, Franklin himself appears to have called the work his Memoirs. Although it had a tortuous publication history after Franklin's death, this work has become one of the most famous and influential examples of an autobiography ever written. Franklin's account of his life is divided into four parts, reflecting the different periods at which he wrote them."