The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

by Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Edited by Frank Woodworth Pine (1869-1919)

Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author and printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. He invented the lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer, and the glass 'armonica'. He formed both the first public lending library in America and the first fire department in Pennsylvania.

Franklin earned the title of "The First American" for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity; as a writer and spokesman in London for several colonies, then as the first United States Ambassador to France, he exemplified the emerging American nation.  Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical and democratic values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the Enlightenment. In the words of historian Henry Steele Commager, "In Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat."To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin, "the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become."

Franklin, always proud of his working class roots, became a successful newspaper editor and printer in Philadelphia, the leading city in the colonies. He was also partners with William Goddard and Joseph Galloway the three of whom published the Pennsylvania Chronicle, a newspaper that was known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of the British monarchy in the American colonies. He became wealthy publishing Poor Richard's Almanack and The Pennsylvania Gazette. Franklin gained international renown as a scientist for his famous experiments in electricity and for his many inventions, especially the lightning rod. He played a major role in establishing the University of Pennsylvania and was elected the first president of the American Philosophical Society. Franklin became a national hero in America when he spearheaded the effort to have Parliament repeal the unpopular Stamp Act. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco-American relations. For many years he was the British postmaster for the colonies, which enabled him to set up the first national communications network. He was active in community affairs, colonial and state politics, as well as national and international affairs. From 1785 to 1788, he served as governor of Pennsylvania. Toward the end of his life, he freed his slaves and became one of the most prominent abolitionists.

His colorful life and legacy of scientific and political achievement, and status as one of America's most influential Founding Fathers, have seen Franklin honored on coinage and money; warships; the names of many towns, counties, educational institutions, namesakes, and companies; and more than two centuries after his death, countless cultural references.

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 autobiography ever written.

Franklin's account of his life is divided into four parts, reflecting the different periods at which he wrote them. In these parts, several aphorisms are made about friendship. These are somewhat confusing, but can be understood with some comprehension skills. There are actual breaks in the narrative between the first three parts, but Part Three's narrative continues into Part Four without an authorial break

Total running time: 07:30:39

NEW (FREE BONUS):

Also included on this CD is the eBook text of this classic work.  The eBook text is provided for this book in the following formats:

.epub
.mobi
plucker.pdb

This will allow you to read this work as well on most portable ebook readers such as your Kindle or IPAD, or whatever is it you prefer.  Please make sure your ebook reader is capable of reading one of the mentioned formats prior to your purchase.

 

So, what is an MP3 AudioBook Disk?
This disk contains MP3 files of the AudioBook discussed above spoken by literature enthusiasts.  Most of our AudioBooks come on CD's.  If your CD player can play MP3 CD's, then your CD Player will be able to play this disk.  Please consult your CD player manual to find out if it can play an MP3 CD.  You can also place this CD into your computer and copy off the MP3 files to your machine and upload them back to any MP3 Player and listen to your AudioBook through your MP3 Player.  In some cases, the AudioBook is too large to fit on a CD and comes on a DVD MP3 disk.  In this case, you will need to copy the MP3 files to your PC through your DVD-ROM drive.  For DVD MP3 disks, that is clearly noted in the item description.
 

How does this AudioBook Disk arrive?

All of our disks are shipped in plain mailers in plain paper sleeves the next business mailing day using USPS First Class Mail.  The disks contain plain text labeling that note the disk's title, our catalog number for the disk, and our website address.  The disk does not come with any artwork.  The disk does not come with a plastic case.  However, for those wishing to create their own custom disks with artwork, we also include some artwork images that are preloaded on the disk that you can use to create your own custom CD's or DVD's.

We are centrally located in America's heartland in the great state of Tennessee!

All items will be shipped out within 1 business day to your PayPal address. We will only ship to your PayPal verified address.  Please view our shipping and sales tax rules on our shipping and payments tab above.

All items are shipped by USPS first class mail.  In an effort to keep our costs down, that are passed along as low prices to you, all of our disks are packaged and shipped in economic sleeves and mailers.  All of our disks are labeled with a clean label and some graphics.  The disks are made this way for speed and cost, which translates into lower cost for you.  We focus our efforts on the quality of the material on the disk.  We do not believe in charging you an extra 3 or 4 dollars like some companies out there just to throw in a 25 cent plastic case and slap a color label on an item.  We believe you purchase for content, and ours is the best, although we still believe you will be pleased with the presentation.

PLEASE READ ABOUT SHIPPING TIMES:

The estimated delivery dates shown above are ebay's estimates, not ours.  Sometimes ebay's dates are completely unrealistic.  Every effort is made to get your item out the next day, but once it leaves us, we ask that you please understand that we do not guarantee delivery by any date, since the USPS does not give us a guarantee either.  Below is our estimates on what to expect:

USA CUSTOMERS:  Most times, your package will arrive in about 1 week after we ship them depending on where you are at.  However, lately the Post Office it seems has not been very cooperative with us and we've had a couple of customers wait a few days longer than that.  If the item does not arrive, please email us directly and let us know, and we will make it right.

NON-USA CUSTOMERS:  Same deal above,  except your packages typically have been taking about 2 weeks or so after we ship them.  We've noticed that maybe 20% of overseas customers have been waiting as long as 4+ weeks for these shipments.  The only explanation we can come up with is that it must be stuck in some container in some dock waiting on customs clearance.  It happens, and for those 20% of customers, we apologize, but there is very little we can do about that.  Your disk will arrive or we will replace it.

Multiple items purchased by the same customer may or may not be shipped in the same package, at our discretion.  We do not offer any additional discounts on multiple items other than the ones noted above.
 

Feedback Policy:

Please offer us a chance to fix any problems before leaving us negative feedback for any reason by emailing us first with your problem.  The only thing we ask from our customers is that if they have a problem, that they give us a chance to fix the problem for them before they leave bad feedback.  If negative feedback is left without any prior communication, we will assume you are no longer interested in communicating and working things out.

If you run into issues and wish to speak with us, we ask that you please refrain from opening a request on ebay and email us directly by asking a question first, and give us a chance to answer you before you open a request!

If you have any questions prior to bidding, please use contact the seller above and let us know.  Thank you!!!!!!