Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
PART I. BOSTON: YOUTH, 1706-1723
Prologue: Quandary
1. Boston
2. Child to Adolescent
3. Printer's Devil
4. Massachusetts Controversies, 1716-1723
5. Nathaniel Gardner and the Couranteers
6. James Franklin: America's First Newspaperman
7. Silence Dogood in Context
8. "Saucy and Provoking": Franklin Takes Charge
9. Assessing Franklin as a Youth, to Age Seventeen
PART II. ADRIFT, AGE SEVENTEEN TO TWENTY-FOUR, 1723-1730
10. The Runaway
11. The Water American: London Escapades
12. At Sea, 1726
13. Merchant to Master Printer, 1726-1728
14. The Junto
15. Business, 1728-1730, and "Articles of Religion"
16. The Busy-Body
17. Paper Currency
18. Journalist
19. Assessing Franklin, Age Seventeen to Twenty-four
Appendix: New Attributions
Sources and Documentation
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments

Promotional Information

Representing a lifetime of research by the dean of Franklin scholars, this seven-volume biography will give enthusiasts and scholars an important resource for understanding Benjamin Franklin's character and place in American history. This first volume chronicles the early years of Franklin, from his birth to his marriage in 1730.

About the Author

J. A. Leo Lemay is H. F. du Pont Winterthur Professor of English at the University of Delaware. He has written extensively on early American literature and is the author of numerous books, including The American Dream of Captain John Smith.

Reviews

"A labor of love balanced by thoughtful criticism. There is nothing like it."--American Historical Review "Recent books on Ben Franklin abound. However, this work, in the classic multivolume 'life and times' genre, is especially valuable. Highly recommended."--Choice "Veteran Franklin scholar Lemay offers a highly detailed examination of one of the most fascinating of America's founders."--Publishers Weekly "Lemay's final output will do for the popular interest in our revolution and early founding what Douglas Southall Freeman's magisterial Lee's Lieutenants did for our fixation on the Civil War... I can't wait for Mr. Lemay's next volumes."--Washington Times "Under Mr. Lemay's narrative spell, Franklin emerges as the greatest of Americans... It takes an awesome biography to do justice to such a man, and that is exactly what Mr. Lemay is writing."--New York Sun "The authoritative compendium of Franklin's remarkable exploits and contributions."--Times Higher Education Supplement "Lemay's magnificent opus manages to be accessible and interesting for the general reader while also valuable for the specialist... For readers who want to luxuriate in the life and times of a fascinating man and who enjoy seeing how an expert historian examines evidence and reaches conclusions, this biography is indispensable. Highly recommended."--Library Journal (starred review) "This colossal study ... does for Franklin what Dumas Malone did for Thomas Jefferson. In sheer comprehensiveness, it surpasses any previous (and, one imagines, future) treatment. When completed, it promises to provide just about as complete a factual account of Franklin's life as it is possible to put together."--Journal of American History