Benjamin Franklin's Papers are Now Online

The papers of American scientist, statesman and diplomat Benjamin Franklin have been digitized and are now available online for the first time from the Library of Congress. The Library announced the digitization today in remembrance of the anniversary of Franklin’s death on April 17, 1790.

The Franklin papers consist of approximately 8,000 items mostly dating from the 1770s and 1780s. These include:

• the petition that the First Continental Congress sent to Franklin, then a colonial diplomat in London, to deliver to King George III;
• letterbooks Franklin kept as he negotiated the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War;
• drafts of the treaty;
• notes documenting his scientific observations, and
• correspondence with fellow scientists.

The collection is online at: loc.gov/collections/benjamin-franklin-papers/about-this-collection.

Hat tip to the Library of Congress.

(mew)