New Leaves is a series highlighting acquisitions in Special Collections and Archives.
Where can you find a cure for hiccups, advice on how to be agreeable in conversation, the consequences of intemperance, and a monthly calendar all in one? In none other than a well-worn (hence, loved) copy of Benjamin Franklin’s, Poor Richard’s Almanack for the year 1760.
Most of us are well acquainted with Franklin’s aphorisms like, “Fish and visitors stink in three days,” or “A penny saved is twopence dear,” which is better known as, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” The repetition of these pithy sayings over the years might lead one to believe that they were prominently displayed in the Almanack, but this is not the case. These nuggets of wisdom are interspersed amongst the planetary motions in a table that also notes the month’s remarkable days, sun rises and sun sets. Making the utmost economy of space, statements like, “Wealth without Friends, is like Life without Health,” are distinguished only by the use of italicized type. (see illustration)
Franklin, himself, best describes his motivations for the Almanackin his autobiography:
“In 1732 I first published my Almanack, under the name of Richard Saunders; it was continued by me about twenty-five years, commonly called ‘Poor Richard’s Almanack.’ I endeavored to make it both entertaining and useful, and it accordingly came to be in such demand that I reaped considerable profit from it, vending annually near ten thousand. And observing that it was generally read, scarce any neighborhood in the province being without it, I considered it as a proper vehicle for conveying instruction among the common people, who brought scarcely any other books. I therefore filled all the little spaces that occurred between the remarkable days in the calendar with proverbial sentences, chiefly such as inculcated industry and frugality as the means of procuring wealth and thereby securing virtue; it being more difficult for a man in want to act always honestly as, to use here one of those proverbs, it is hard for an empty sack to stand upright.”
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
The baker’s dozen of virtues that Franklin thought society should live by included: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility. Committed to dispensing information beyond the Almanack, Franklin and his philosophical associates also formed the first lending library in Pennsylvania in 1731 with the motto, “To support the common good is divine.”
Poor Richard improved: being an almanack and ephemeris … for the year of our Lord 1760 : … Fitted to the latitude of forty degrees, and a meridian of near five hours west from London; … / by Richard Saunders, philom. Philadelphia : Printed and sold by B. Franklin, and D. Hall, [1759]. Call Number: SpC. 031.02 P823f1759
For more information about this text or other works by Benjamin Franklin, please contact Special Collections at archives@depaul.edu.