William Temple Franklin and the Publication of Benjamin Franklin’s Works

The publication of Benjamin Franklin’s collected works has a long and complex history. William Temple Franklin, his grandson, was bequeathed his papers in 1790, but it took until 1815 until he began work on editing them, and it wasn’t until 1818 that the first volume in the series was published. Temple has been much maligned for these delays and for the supposed poor quality of his work. This article rectifies that by looking in detail at the circumstances Temple faced, including the details of his contract with publisher Henry Colburn, the various stages of preparation for the volumes, and the search for a translator for the French edition. Despite the errors and omissions in Temple’s London and Paris editions, his volumes were the most complete to be published until considerably later in the century and are still drawn on by modern editors.