The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (The 100 Greatest Books of All Time)

[x], 228 pp. Tall 8vo. Dark brown full leather, gilt titles and decorations, all edges gilt, silk moire endpapers, ribbon marker bound in. Color illustrations by Thomas Hart Benton. "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."