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.geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}</style><span class="plainlinks nourlexpansion"><a class="external text" href="https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Library_Company_of_Philadelphia&params=39.94779_N_75.16306_W_type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-PA"><span class="geo-nondefault"><span class="geo-dms" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location"><span class="latitude">39°56′52″N</span> <span class="longitude">75°09′47″W</span></span></span><span class="geo-multi-punct"> / </span><span class="geo-default"><span class="geo-dec" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location">39.94779°N 75.16306°W</span><span style="display:none"> / <span class="geo">39.94779; -75.16306</span></span></span></a></span></span></div></div> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Library in Pennsylvania founded by Benjamin Franklin</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Not to be confused with <a href="/wiki/Free_Library_of_Philadelphia" title="Free Library of Philadelphia">Free Library of Philadelphia</a>.</div> <p> <span class="geo-inline-hidden noexcerpt"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1156832818">.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}</style><span class="plainlinks nourlexpansion"><a class="external text" href="https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Library_Company_of_Philadelphia&params=39.94779_N_75.16306_W_type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-PA"><span class="geo-nondefault"><span class="geo-dms" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location"><span class="latitude">39°56′52″N</span> <span class="longitude">75°09′47″W</span></span></span><span class="geo-multi-punct"> / </span><span class="geo-default"><span class="geo-dec" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location">39.94779°N 75.16306°W</span><span style="display:none"> / <span class="geo">39.94779; -75.16306</span></span></span></a></span></span> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1257001546">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox vcard"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="text-align:center;background-color:#ededed;">Library Company of Philadelphia</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Library_Company_of_Philadelphia_seal.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c4/Library_Company_of_Philadelphia_seal.jpg/150px-Library_Company_of_Philadelphia_seal.jpg" decoding="async" width="150" height="151" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c4/Library_Company_of_Philadelphia_seal.jpg/225px-Library_Company_of_Philadelphia_seal.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/Library_Company_of_Philadelphia_seal.jpg 2x" data-file-width="300" data-file-height="302" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><a class="mw-kartographer-map notheme mw-kartographer-container center" style="width: 250px; height: 200px;" data-mw-kartographer="mapframe" data-style="osm-intl" data-width="250" data-height="200" data-zoom="14" data-overlays="["_1ec1253d3ff958e68e579a12349f4a77345113bc"]"><img src="https://maps.wikimedia.org/img/osm-intl,14,a,a,250x200.png?lang=en&domain=en.wikipedia.org&title=Library_Company_of_Philadelphia&revid=1258623193&groups=_1ec1253d3ff958e68e579a12349f4a77345113bc" width="250" height="200" decoding="async" srcset="https://maps.wikimedia.org/img/osm-intl,14,a,a,250x200@2x.png?lang=en&domain=en.wikipedia.org&title=Library_Company_of_Philadelphia&revid=1258623193&groups=_1ec1253d3ff958e68e579a12349f4a77345113bc 2x" alt="Map" /></a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Location</th><td class="infobox-data">1314 <a href="/wiki/Locust_Street" title="Locust Street">Locust Street</a>, <a href="/wiki/Philadelphia" title="Philadelphia">Philadelphia</a>, <a href="/wiki/Pennsylvania" title="Pennsylvania">Pennsylvania</a>, U.S.</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Established</th><td class="infobox-data">1731<span class="noprint">; 293 years ago</span><span style="display:none"> (<span class="bday dtstart published updated">1731</span>)</span></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="text-align:center;background: #ededed;">Collection</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Size</th><td class="infobox-data">500,000 books; 70,000 other items</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="text-align:center;background: #ededed;">Access and use</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Circulation</th><td class="infobox-data">Non-circulating collection</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Population served</th><td class="infobox-data">Free and open to the public</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Members</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin" title="Benjamin Franklin">Benjamin Franklin</a> originally</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="text-align:center;background: #ededed;">Other information</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Director</th><td class="infobox-data">Interim</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Employees</th><td class="infobox-data">25</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Website</th><td class="infobox-data"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.librarycompany.org/">http://www.librarycompany.org/</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The <b>Library Company of Philadelphia</b> (LCP) is a non-profit organization based on <a href="/wiki/Locust_Street" title="Locust Street">Locust Street</a> in <a href="/wiki/Center_City,_Philadelphia" title="Center City, Philadelphia">Center City Philadelphia</a>. Founded as a library in 1731 by <a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin" title="Benjamin Franklin">Benjamin Franklin</a>, the Library Company of Philadelphia has accumulated one of the most significant collections of historically valuable manuscripts and printed material in the United States. </p><p>The current collection size is approximately 500,000 books and 70,000 other items, including 2,150 items that once belonged to Franklin, major collections of 17th-century and <a href="/wiki/American_Revolution" title="American Revolution">Revolution</a>-era <a href="/wiki/Pamphlet" title="Pamphlet">pamphlets</a> and <a href="/wiki/Ephemera" title="Ephemera">ephemera</a>, maps, and whole libraries assembled in the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection also includes <a href="/wiki/Edition_(book)" title="Edition (book)">first editions</a> of <i><a href="/wiki/Moby-Dick" title="Moby-Dick">Moby-Dick</a></i> and <i><a href="/wiki/Leaves_of_Grass" title="Leaves of Grass">Leaves of Grass</a></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-instance_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-instance-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Library_Company_of_Philadelphia&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: History"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="18th_and_19th_centuries">18th and 19th centuries</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Library_Company_of_Philadelphia&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: 18th and 19th centuries"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:WBirchLib1800.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/WBirchLib1800.jpg/220px-WBirchLib1800.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="167" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/WBirchLib1800.jpg/330px-WBirchLib1800.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/WBirchLib1800.jpg 2x" data-file-width="393" data-file-height="299" /></a><figcaption><i>Library and Surgeon's Hall, Fifth-street</i> an 1800 engraving by <a href="/wiki/William_Russell_Birch" class="mw-redirect" title="William Russell Birch">William Russell Birch</a></figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Ridgeway_Library_Philadelphia_High_School_for_Creative_and_Performing_Arts_from_north.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Ridgeway_Library_Philadelphia_High_School_for_Creative_and_Performing_Arts_from_north.jpg/220px-Ridgeway_Library_Philadelphia_High_School_for_Creative_and_Performing_Arts_from_north.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="124" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Ridgeway_Library_Philadelphia_High_School_for_Creative_and_Performing_Arts_from_north.jpg/330px-Ridgeway_Library_Philadelphia_High_School_for_Creative_and_Performing_Arts_from_north.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Ridgeway_Library_Philadelphia_High_School_for_Creative_and_Performing_Arts_from_north.jpg/440px-Ridgeway_Library_Philadelphia_High_School_for_Creative_and_Performing_Arts_from_north.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3151" data-file-height="1771" /></a><figcaption>The former Ridgway Library at 901 <a href="/wiki/Broad_Street_(Philadelphia)" title="Broad Street (Philadelphia)">South Broad Street</a>, built in 1873–1878, is now occupied since 1997 by the <a href="/wiki/Philadelphia_High_School_for_the_Creative_and_Performing_Arts" title="Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts">Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts</a>.</figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Library_co_phila1965facade.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Library_co_phila1965facade.jpg/220px-Library_co_phila1965facade.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="315" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Library_co_phila1965facade.jpg/330px-Library_co_phila1965facade.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Library_co_phila1965facade.jpg/440px-Library_co_phila1965facade.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1282" data-file-height="1838" /></a><figcaption>The Ridgway Library, opened in 1966, home of the Library Company of Philadelphia, at 1314 <a href="/wiki/Locust_Street" title="Locust Street">Locust Street</a> in <a href="/wiki/Philadelphia" title="Philadelphia">Philadelphia</a></figcaption></figure> <p>The Library Company was an offshoot of the <a href="/wiki/Junto_(club)" title="Junto (club)">Junto</a>, a discussion group in <a href="/wiki/Province_of_Pennsylvania" title="Province of Pennsylvania">colonial Philadelphia</a>, that gravitated around <a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin" title="Benjamin Franklin">Benjamin Franklin</a>. On July 1, 1731, Franklin and a number of his fellow members among the Junto drew up articles of agreement to found a library, for they had discovered that their far-ranging conversations on intellectual and political themes floundered at times on a point of fact that might be found in a decent library. In colonial Pennsylvania at the time there were not many books; Books from London <a href="/wiki/Bookselling" title="Bookselling">booksellers</a> were expensive to purchase and slow to arrive. Franklin and his friends were mostly of moderate means, and none alone could have afforded a representative library such as a gentleman of leisure might expect to assemble. By pooling their resources in pragmatic Franklinian fashion, as the Library Company's historian wrote, "the contribution of each created the book capital of all. "Many of the first books in the collection focused Hat the first texts of on religion and education. It is notable t the collection was written in English, when during the period most books held in academic and private libraries were only found in Latin.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The first librarian they hired, America's first, was Louis Timothee. He only held the position for a brief time. Until another librarian was found to replace him, <a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin" title="Benjamin Franklin">Benjamin Franklin</a> took over his duties. Franklin's stint as librarian ended in 1734, when he was replaced by William Parsons, the librarian for the next 12 years. Robert Greenway was the fourth librarian, whose tenure lasted until 1763.<sup id="cite_ref-instance_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-instance-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The articles of association specified that each member after the first fifty must be approved by the directors, sign the articles, and pay the subscription. Admitting new members and selecting new books were the directors' ordinary duties. </p><p>In the back of the library's 1741 catalog, Franklin mentioned that the library was accessible to people who were not members. Those who were not members were allowed to borrow books. However, they had to leave enough money to cover the cost of the book. Apparently, their money was given back upon returning the book. The privilege of being a member meant that books could be borrowed for free. Franklin also mentioned that the library was only open on Saturdays, for four hours in the afternoon.<sup id="cite_ref-instance_1-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-instance-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>On November 10, 1731, at Nicholas Scull's Bear Tavern ten persons paid their forty shillings: Robert Grace (share no. 1), Thomas Hopkinson (share no. 2),2 Benjamin Franklin (share no. 3), John Jones, Jr. (4), <a href="/wiki/Joseph_Breintnall" title="Joseph Breintnall">Joseph Breintnall</a> (5), Anthony Nicholas (6), Thomas Godfrey (7), Joseph Stretch (8), Philip Syng, Jr. (9), and John Sober (10). It was a disappointing turnout: all but John Sober and the hatter Joseph Stretch (son of <a href="/wiki/Peter_Stretch" title="Peter Stretch">Peter Stretch</a>), who later became a Pennsylvania assemblyman, were officers. The library now had eleven paid-up members.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Joseph Stretch and his brothers provided half of the original capital to build <a href="/wiki/Pennsylvania_Hospital" title="Pennsylvania Hospital">Pennsylvania Hospital</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> another of Benjamin Franklin's projects. </p><p>Over time, fifty subscribers invested 40 <a href="/wiki/Shilling" title="Shilling">shillings</a> each and promised to pay ten shillings a year thereafter to buy books and maintain a shareholder's library. Therefore, "the Mother of all American <a href="/wiki/Subscription_library" title="Subscription library">subscription libraries</a>" was established, and a list of desired books compiled in part by <a href="/wiki/James_Logan_(statesman)" title="James Logan (statesman)">James Logan</a>, "the best Judge of Books in these parts," was sent to London by autumn the first books were on the shelves. </p><p>Earlier libraries in the <a href="/wiki/Thirteen_Colonies" title="Thirteen Colonies">Thirteen Colonies</a> belonged to gentlemen, members of the clergy, and colleges. Members of the Library Company soon opened their own book presses to make donations: <i>A Collection of Several Pieces</i>, by <a href="/wiki/John_Locke" title="John Locke">John Locke</a>; <i>Logic: or, the Art of Thinking</i>, by the Port Royalists <a href="/wiki/Antoine_Arnauld" title="Antoine Arnauld">Antoine Arnauld</a> and <a href="/wiki/Pierre_Nicole" title="Pierre Nicole">Pierre Nicole</a>, which Franklin in <a href="/wiki/Autobiography_of_Benjamin_Franklin" class="mw-redirect" title="Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin">his autobiography</a> said he had read at the age of 16; <a href="/wiki/Plutarch" title="Plutarch">Plutarch</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Moralia" title="Moralia">Moralia</a></i> translated by <a href="/wiki/Philemon_Holland" title="Philemon Holland">Philemon Holland</a>; Lewis Roberts' <i>Merchants Mappe of Commerce</i>, and others. A bit later William Rawle added a set of Spenser's <i>Works</i> to the collection and Francis Richardson gave several volumes, among them Francis Bacon's <i>Sylva Sylvarum</i>, but on the whole books in Latin were few. </p><p>Overtures to the proprietor of Pennsylvania, <a href="/wiki/John_Penn_(%22the_American%22)" title="John Penn ("the American")">John Penn</a> at <a href="/wiki/Pennsbury_Manor" title="Pennsbury Manor">Pennsbury</a> at first elicited no more than a polite response, but an unsolicited gift of 34 <a href="/wiki/Pound_sterling" title="Pound sterling">pounds sterling</a> arrived in the summer of 1738 from Walter Sydserfe, a Scottish-born physician and planter of <a href="/wiki/Antigua" title="Antigua">Antigua</a>. </p><p>The earliest surviving printed catalogue of 1741 gives the range of readers' tastes, for the members' requirements shaped the collection. Excluding gifts, a third of the holdings of 375 titles were historical works, <a href="/wiki/Geography" title="Geography">geographies</a> and accounts of voyages and travels, a category the Library Company has collected energetically throughout its history. A fifth of the titles were literature, mostly in the form of poetry and plays, for the prose novel was still in its infancy: as late as 1783, in the first orders from London after the war years, the directors thought "we should not think it expedient to add to our present stock, anything in the novel way." Another fifth of the titles were devoted to works of science. Theology and <a href="/wiki/Sermon" title="Sermon">sermons</a>, however, accounted for only a tenth of the titles, which set the Free Library apart from collegiate libraries at <a href="/wiki/Harvard_University" title="Harvard University">Harvard</a> and <a href="/wiki/Yale" class="mw-redirect" title="Yale">Yale</a>. Another tenth was works of philosophy, and the rest (approximately 1/15 of the collection) was "economics and such <a href="/wiki/Social_sciences" class="mw-redirect" title="Social sciences">social sciences</a>, <a href="/wiki/The_arts" title="The arts">the arts</a>, <a href="/wiki/Linguistics" title="Linguistics">linguistics</a>, and the indefinables." The Company's agent in London was <a href="/wiki/Peter_Collinson_FRS" class="mw-redirect" title="Peter Collinson FRS">Peter Collinson</a>, Fellow of the <a href="/wiki/Royal_Society" title="Royal Society">Royal Society</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Religious_Society_of_Friends" class="mw-redirect" title="Religious Society of Friends">Quaker</a> mercer-naturalist of London, who corresponded with <a href="/wiki/John_Bartram" title="John Bartram">John Bartram</a>. </p><p>The Library Company's example was soon imitated in other cities along the <a href="/wiki/East_Coast_of_the_United_States" title="East Coast of the United States">Atlantic coast</a>, from <a href="/wiki/Salem,_Massachusetts" title="Salem, Massachusetts">Salem</a> to <a href="/wiki/Charleston,_South_Carolina" title="Charleston, South Carolina">Charleston</a>. The Library soon became a repository of other curiosities: antique coins, including a gift of <a href="/wiki/Roman_currency" title="Roman currency">Roman coins</a> from a <a href="/wiki/British_Tory_Party" class="mw-redirect" title="British Tory Party">Tory</a> <a href="/wiki/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Parliament of the United Kingdom">Member of Parliament</a>, <a href="/wiki/Fossil" title="Fossil">fossils</a>, <a href="/wiki/Natural_history" title="Natural history">natural history</a> specimens, minerals. When John Penn, making up for his slow start, sent an air-pump to the learned society in 1739, the directors, to house it commissioned a glazed cabinet, the earliest extant example of American-made <a href="/wiki/Palladian_architecture" title="Palladian architecture">Palladian</a> architectural furniture. Rooms on the second floor of the newly finished west wing of the State House (now <a href="/wiki/Independence_Hall_(United_States)" class="mw-redirect" title="Independence Hall (United States)">Independence Hall</a>) housed the Library and its collections: there Franklin and his associates performed their first experiments in electricity during the 1740s. Later <a href="/wiki/Benjamin_West" title="Benjamin West">Benjamin West</a> sent the <a href="/wiki/Mummy" title="Mummy">mummified</a> hand of an Egyptian princess. </p><p>A charter was issued for the Company by the Penn proprietors, March 24, 1742, that included a plot of land, issued in their name by Governor <a href="/wiki/Sir_George_Thomas,_1st_Baronet" title="Sir George Thomas, 1st Baronet">George Thomas</a>. Collinson, who had faithfully executed the Company's requests for books over the years, sent windfalls in 1755 and in 1758 in the form of boxes of his own copies of a score of 17th-century accounts of the newly established British colonies in America, among them such classics as <a href="/wiki/William_Strachey" title="William Strachey">Strachey</a>'s <i>Lawes</i>, <a href="/wiki/Mourt%27s_Relation" title="Mourt's Relation">Mourt's <i>Relation</i></a> and <a href="/wiki/John_Smith_of_Jamestown" class="mw-redirect" title="John Smith of Jamestown">John Smith</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/The_Generall_Historie_of_Virginia,_New-England,_and_the_Summer_Isles" title="The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles">General Historie of Virginia</a></i>. </p><p>The Library Company's <a href="/wiki/Microscope" title="Microscope">microscope</a> and <a href="/wiki/Telescope" title="Telescope">telescope</a> were frequently borrowed and from time to time, needed repairs. There is also evidence that many of the library's curiosities were available to borrow if permission was obtained from any two directors.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In 1769, <a href="/wiki/Owen_Biddle_Sr." title="Owen Biddle Sr.">Owen Biddle</a> used the telescope to observe the <a href="/wiki/Transit_of_Venus" title="Transit of Venus">transit of Venus</a> from <a href="/wiki/Cape_Henlopen" title="Cape Henlopen">Cape Henlopen</a>. On May 9 of that year <a href="/wiki/Sarah_Wister" class="mw-redirect" title="Sarah Wister">Sarah Wistar</a> became the first woman to be voted a library share. </p><p>The library absorbed smaller lending libraries and outgrew its rooms, renting larger space on the second floor of the new <a href="/wiki/Carpenters%27_Hall" title="Carpenters' Hall">Carpenters' Company hall</a> in 1773. "The Books (inclosed within Wire Lattices) are kept in one large Room," Franklin was informed in London, "and in another handsome Apartment the [scientific] Apparatus is deposited and the Directors meet." On September 5, 1774, the <a href="/wiki/First_Continental_Congress" title="First Continental Congress">First Continental Congress</a> met on the first floor of <a href="/wiki/Carpenters%27_Hall" title="Carpenters' Hall">Carpenters' Hall</a>, and the Library Company extended members' privileges to all the delegates. The offer was renewed when the <a href="/wiki/Second_Continental_Congress" title="Second Continental Congress">Second Continental Congress</a> met the following spring, and again when the delegates to the <a href="/wiki/Philadelphia_Convention" class="mw-redirect" title="Philadelphia Convention">Constitutional Convention</a> met in 1787. Nine signers of the Declaration of Independence—<a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin" title="Benjamin Franklin">Benjamin Franklin</a>, <a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Rush" title="Benjamin Rush">Benjamin Rush</a>, <a href="/wiki/Francis_Hopkinson" title="Francis Hopkinson">Francis Hopkinson</a>, <a href="/wiki/Robert_Morris_(merchant)" class="mw-redirect" title="Robert Morris (merchant)">Robert Morris</a>, <a href="/wiki/George_Clymer" title="George Clymer">George Clymer</a>, <a href="/wiki/John_Morton_(American_politician)" title="John Morton (American politician)">John Morton</a>, <a href="/wiki/James_Wilson_(Founding_Father)" title="James Wilson (Founding Father)">James Wilson</a>, <a href="/wiki/Thomas_McKean" title="Thomas McKean">Thomas McKean</a>, and <a href="/wiki/George_Ross_(delegate)" class="mw-redirect" title="George Ross (delegate)">George Ross</a>—owned shares, some of them serving as directors. The Library Company served virtually as the <a href="/wiki/Library_of_Congress" title="Library of Congress">Library of Congress</a> until the national capital was established in 1800. </p> <blockquote><p>Virtually every significant work on political theory, history, law, and statecraft (and much else besides) could be found on the Library Company's shelves, as well as numerous tracts and polemical writings by American as well as European authors. And virtually all of those works that were influential in framing the minds of the Framers of the nation are still on the Library Company's shelves.<sup id="cite_ref-instance_1-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-instance-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote> <p>In 1785, the Company purchased a collection of Revolutionary broadsheets pamphlets and other ephemera that had been assiduously collected by <a href="/wiki/Pierre_Eugene_du_Simitiere" title="Pierre Eugene du Simitiere">Pierre Eugène Du Simitière</a>, of which no other copies have survived. </p><p>Permanent quarters were established for the Library Company in 1789 with the purchase of a lot on Fifth Street near Chestnut across from State House Square. A competition for the design of a building was won by an amateur of architecture, Dr. <a href="/wiki/William_Thornton" title="William Thornton">William Thornton</a>, with a plan for a Palladian red-brick structure with white pilasters and a pediment interrupting a balustraded roof. A curving double flight of steps led up to the arched door under an arched niche containing a gift from <a href="/wiki/William_Bingham" title="William Bingham">William Bingham</a>—a marble statue of Franklin in a classical toga sculpted in Italy by Francesco Lazzarini. Member's shares were extended to carpenters and bricklayers in partial payment for work on the new building. The new quarters were opened on New Year's Day, 1791. For the new library Samuel Jennings, an expatriate Philadelphian living in London, painted a large picture, "<a href="/wiki/Liberty_Displaying_the_Arts_and_Sciences" title="Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences">Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences</a>." </p><p> In 1792, the Loganian Library, which had been housed across the square, was transferred to the Library Company, complementing its collection with the 2600 books (chiefly in Latin and Greek) that had been collected by James Logan. This collection was supplemented by the medical library of James Logan's younger brother, a physician in Bristol, England, the best medical library in North America. Thornton's new building immediately required a new wing.</p><div style="clear:left;" class=""></div> <p>The collections went from strength to strength in the 19th century. In mid-century it was considered one of the "five great libraries" in the United States, along with the <a href="/wiki/Harvard_University_Library" class="mw-redirect" title="Harvard University Library">Harvard University Library</a>, <a href="/wiki/Yale_University_Library" title="Yale University Library">Yale University Library</a>, <a href="/wiki/Library_of_Congress" title="Library of Congress">Library of Congress</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Boston_Athen%C3%A6um" title="Boston Athenæum">Boston Athenæum</a>. </p><p>The Library Company's collections were physically split in the mid-19th century. A large bequest from Dr. James Rush resulted in a new building at Broad and Christian streets in South Philadelphia. The Ridgway Library, as it was called, was controversial because it was both physically and socially removed from the homes and businesses of its members. A new, more centrally located, library designed by <a href="/wiki/Frank_Furness" title="Frank Furness">Frank Furness</a> opened its doors in 1880 at Juniper and Locust Street. </p><p>An unrelated endeavor, the <a href="/wiki/Free_Library_of_Philadelphia" title="Free Library of Philadelphia">Free Library of Philadelphia</a>, was chartered in 1891 to "be free to all", and opened in March 1894. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="20th_century">20th century</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Library_Company_of_Philadelphia&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: 20th century"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The Library Company suffered financial troubles during the <a href="/wiki/Great_Depression" title="Great Depression">Great Depression</a> and was forced to sell the Locust Street building and consolidate the collections in the Ridgway Library on South <a href="/wiki/Broad_Street_(Philadelphia)" title="Broad Street (Philadelphia)">Broad Street</a>. As its fortunes improved after the war, the institution focused on its mission as a scholarly research library. In the second half of the 20th century, under the direction of <a href="/wiki/Edwin_Wolf_II" title="Edwin Wolf II">Edwin Wolf II</a>, an energetic program of renewal brought the Library Company once more into a busy and vital center of national importance for research and education. The Library Company completed a new building on Locust Street, also named the Ridgway Library, in 1965, and opened it to the public in April 1966. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Library_Company_of_Philadelphia&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Free_Library_of_Philadelphia" title="Free Library of Philadelphia">Free Library of Philadelphia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_Public_Library_Advocacy" class="mw-redirect" title="History of Public Library Advocacy">History of Public Library Advocacy</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Life_in_Philadelphia" title="Life in Philadelphia">Life in Philadelphia</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Public_Library_Advocacy" class="mw-redirect" title="Public Library Advocacy">Public Library Advocacy</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Library_Company_of_Philadelphia&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><b>Notes</b> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-instance-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-instance_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-instance_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-instance_1-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-instance_1-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFWolf1976" class="citation book cs1">Wolf, Edwin (1976). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.librarycompany.org/about/Instance.pdf"><i>At the Instance of Benjamin Franklin: A Brief History of the Library Company of Philadelphia</i></a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. Philadelphia: The Library Company of Philadelphia. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-914076-73-6" title="Special:BookSources/0-914076-73-6"><bdi>0-914076-73-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=At+the+Instance+of+Benjamin+Franklin%3A+A+Brief+History+of+the+Library+Company+of+Philadelphia&rft.place=Philadelphia&rft.pub=The+Library+Company+of+Philadelphia&rft.date=1976&rft.isbn=0-914076-73-6&rft.aulast=Wolf&rft.aufirst=Edwin&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.librarycompany.org%2Fabout%2FInstance.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ALibrary+Company+of+Philadelphia" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://dp.la/exhibitions/history-us-public-libraries/beginnings/the-library-company">"A History of US Public Libraries"</a>. <i>Digital Public Library of America</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">May 8,</span> 2022</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Digital+Public+Library+of+America&rft.atitle=A+History+of+US+Public+Libraries&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fdp.la%2Fexhibitions%2Fhistory-us-public-libraries%2Fbeginnings%2Fthe-library-company&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ALibrary+Company+of+Philadelphia" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFLemay2005" class="citation book cs1">Lemay, J. A. Leo (2005). <i>The Life of Benjamin Franklin. Vol II: Printer and Publisher, 1730–1747</i>. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 93–128. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8122-3855-6" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-8122-3855-6"><bdi>978-0-8122-3855-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Life+of+Benjamin+Franklin.+Vol+II%3A+Printer+and+Publisher%2C+1730%E2%80%931747&rft.place=Philadelphia&rft.pages=93-128&rft.pub=University+of+Pennsylvania+Press&rft.date=2005&rft.isbn=978-0-8122-3855-6&rft.aulast=Lemay&rft.aufirst=J.+A.+Leo&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ALibrary+Company+of+Philadelphia" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation journal cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/i40175841">"George Meade, A Patriot of the Revolutionary Era"</a>. <i>Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia</i>. <b>3</b>: 196–8. 1888–1891<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">May 8,</span> 2022</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Records+of+the+American+Catholic+Historical+Society+of+Philadelphia&rft.atitle=George+Meade%2C+A+Patriot+of+the+Revolutionary+Era&rft.volume=3&rft.pages=196-8&rft.date=1888%2F1891&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2Fi40175841&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ALibrary+Company+of+Philadelphia" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFZytaruk2017" class="citation journal cs1">Zytaruk, Maria (January 2017). "America's first circulating museum: The object collection of the library company of Philadelphia". <i>Museum History Journal</i>. <b>10</b> (1): 68-82. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1080%2F19369816.2017.1257871">10.1080/19369816.2017.1257871</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:164443324">164443324</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Museum+History+Journal&rft.atitle=America%27s+first+circulating+museum%3A+The+object+collection+of+the+library+company+of+Philadelphia.&rft.volume=10&rft.issue=1&rft.pages=68-82&rft.date=2017-01&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1080%2F19369816.2017.1257871&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A164443324%23id-name%3DS2CID&rft.aulast=Zytaruk&rft.aufirst=Maria&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ALibrary+Company+of+Philadelphia" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <p><b>Further reading</b> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239549316">.mw-parser-output .refbegin{margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul{margin-left:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{margin-left:0;padding-left:3.2em;text-indent:-3.2em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul,.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul li{list-style:none}@media(max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{padding-left:1.6em;text-indent:-1.6em}}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .refbegin{font-size:90%}}</style><div class="refbegin" style=""> <ul><li>Abbot, G. M. A Short History of the Library Company of Philadelphia; Compiled from the Minutes, Together with Some Personal Reminiscences. Philadelphia: Published by order of the board of directors, 1913.</li> <li>Edmunds, A. J. "The First Books Imported by America's First Great Library: 1732 " <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=fyoXAAAAIAAJ">Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography</a> 30 (1906): 300–308</li> <li>Gray, A. K. Benjamin Franklin's Library: A Short Account of the Library Company of Philadelphia, 1731–1931, Foreword by Owen Wister. New York: Macmillan, 1937.</li> <li>Grimm, D. F. "A History of the Library Company of Philadelphia, 1731–1835." Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1955.</li> <li>Korty, M. B. "Benjamin Franklin and Eighteenth Century American Libraries." Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 55 (1965): 1–83.</li> <li>Library Company of Philadelphia. A Catalogue of Books Belonging to the Library Company of Philadelphia: A Facsimile of the Edition of 1741 Printed by Benjamin Franklin, with an Introduction by Edwin Wolf 2nd Philadelphia: Library Company of Philadelphia 1956</li> <li>Packard, F. R. Charter Members of the Library Company. Philadelphia: Library Company of Philadelphia, 1942.</li> <li>Peterson, C. E. "The Library Hall: Home of the Library Company of Philadelphia, 1790–1880." <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2ePGFPsfU74C">Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society</a> 95 (1951): 266–85.</li> <li>Smith, J. J. "Notes for a History of the Library Company of Philadelphia." Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania 16 (September 26, 1835): 201–08.</li> <li>Wolf, E. "At the Instance of Benjamin Franklin"—A Brief History of The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1731–1976. Philadelphia: Library Company of Philadelphia, 1976.</li> <li>Wolf, E. "Library Company of Philadelphia." ELIS 15 (1975): 1–19.</li> <li>Wolf, E. "Some Books of Early English Provenance in the Library Company of Philadelphia." Book Collector 9 (1960): 275–84.</li> <li>Wolf, E. "The Early Buying Policy of the Library Company of Philadelphia [1735–70]." Wilson Library Bulletin 30 (1955): 316–18.</li> <li>Wolf, E. "The First Books and Printed Catalogues of the Library Company of Philadelphia." Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 78 (1954): 45–70.</li> <li>Wolf, E. "The Library Company of Philadelphia, America's First Museum." Antiques [U.S.A.] 120 (1981): 348–60.</li> <li>"Early Documents of the Library Company of Philadelphia, 1733–1734." Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 39 (1915): 450–53.</li> <li>"Public Library in Philadelphia." <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=vB0_AAAAYAAJ">American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge</a> 2 (November 1835): 91.</li> <li>"The Library Company of Philadelphia, and the Loganian Library." Norton's Literary Gazette 2 (July 15, 1852): 127.</li></ul> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Library_Company_of_Philadelphia&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1235681985">.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #aaa;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em;background-color:var(--background-color-interactive-subtle,#f8f9fa);display:flow-root}.mw-parser-output .side-box-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{padding:0.25em 0.9em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-image{padding:2px 0 2px 0.9em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-imageright{padding:2px 0.9em 2px 0;text-align:center}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output 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.navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Benjamin_Franklin" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output 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style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin" title="Benjamin Franklin">Benjamin Franklin</a></div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_governors_of_Pennsylvania" title="List of governors of Pennsylvania">President of Pennsylvania (1785–1788)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_ambassadors_of_the_United_States_to_France" title="List of ambassadors of the United States to France">Ambassador to France (1779–1785)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Second_Continental_Congress" title="Second Continental Congress">Second Continental Congress (1775–1776)</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Founding of the<br />United States</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Join,_or_Die" title="Join, or Die"><i>Join, or Die.</i> (1754 political cartoon)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Albany_Plan" title="Albany Plan">Albany Plan of Union</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Albany_Congress" title="Albany Congress">Albany Congress</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hutchinson_letters_affair" title="Hutchinson letters affair">Hutchinson letters affair</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Committee_of_Secret_Correspondence" title="Committee of Secret Correspondence">Committee of Secret Correspondence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Committee_of_Five" title="Committee of Five">Committee of Five</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/All_men_are_created_equal" title="All men are created equal">"...to be self-evident"</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence" title="United States Declaration of Independence">Declaration of Independence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Model_Treaty" title="Model Treaty">Model Treaty</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Franco-American_alliance" title="Franco-American alliance">Franco-American alliance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Treaty_of_Amity_and_Commerce_(France%E2%80%93United_States)" title="Treaty of Amity and Commerce (France–United States)">Treaty of Amity and Commerce</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Treaty_of_Alliance_(1778)" title="Treaty of Alliance (1778)">Treaty of Alliance</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Staten_Island_Peace_Conference" title="Staten Island Peace Conference">Staten Island Peace Conference</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pennsylvania_Constitution_of_1776" title="Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776">1776 Pennsylvania Constitution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Libertas_Americana" title="Libertas Americana">Libertas Americana</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1783)" title="Treaty of Paris (1783)">Treaty of Paris, 1783</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Constitutional_Convention_(United_States)" title="Constitutional Convention (United States)">Delegate, 1787 Constitutional Convention</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Province_of_Pennsylvania#Government" title="Province of Pennsylvania">Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_Postmaster_General" title="United States Postmaster General">Postmaster General</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Founding_Fathers_of_the_United_States" title="Founding Fathers of the United States">Founding Fathers</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Inventions,<br />other events</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Franklin%27s_electrostatic_machine" title="Franklin's electrostatic machine">Franklin's electrostatic machine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bifocals" title="Bifocals">Bifocals</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Franklin_stove" title="Franklin stove">Franklin stove</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Glass_harmonica#Franklin's_armonica" title="Glass harmonica">Glass armonica</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gulf_Stream#History" title="Gulf Stream">Gulf Stream exploration, naming, and chart</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lightning_rod" title="Lightning rod">Lightning rod</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kite_experiment" title="Kite experiment">Kite experiment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pay_it_forward" title="Pay it forward">Pay it forward</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Associators" title="Associators">Associators</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/111th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)" title="111th Infantry Regiment (United States)">111th Infantry Regiment</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Junto_(club)" title="Junto (club)">Junto club</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_Philosophical_Society" title="American Philosophical Society">American Philosophical Society</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Library Company of Philadelphia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pennsylvania_Hospital" title="Pennsylvania Hospital">Pennsylvania Hospital</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Academy_and_College_of_Philadelphia" title="Academy and College of Philadelphia">Academy and College of Philadelphia</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/University_of_Pennsylvania" title="University of Pennsylvania">University of Pennsylvania</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philadelphia_Contributionship" title="Philadelphia Contributionship">Philadelphia Contributionship</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Union_Fire_Company" title="Union Fire Company">Union Fire Company</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Early_American_currency" title="Early American currency">Early American currency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Continental_Currency_dollar_coin" title="Continental Currency dollar coin">Continental Currency dollar coin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fugio_cent" title="Fugio cent">Fugio cent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_the_United_States#Early_postal_history" title="Postage stamps and postal history of the United States">United States Postal Service</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_street_lighting_in_the_United_States" title="History of street lighting in the United States">Street lighting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pennsylvania_Abolition_Society" title="Pennsylvania Abolition Society">President, Pennsylvania Abolition Society</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Les_Neuf_S%C5%93urs" title="Les Neuf Sœurs">Master, Les Neuf Sœurs</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Christ_Church_Burial_Ground" title="Christ Church Burial Ground">Gravesite</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Writings</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/The_Papers_of_Benjamin_Franklin" title="The Papers of Benjamin Franklin">The Papers of Benjamin Franklin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Founders_Online" title="Founders Online">Founders Online</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Silence_Dogood" title="Silence Dogood">Silence Dogood letters (1722)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/A_Dissertation_on_Liberty_and_Necessity,_Pleasure_and_Pain" title="A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain"><i>A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain</i> (1725)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Busy-Body_(pen_name)" title="The Busy-Body (pen name)">The Busy-Body columns (1729)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Pennsylvania_Gazette" title="The Pennsylvania Gazette"><i>The Pennsylvania Gazette</i> (1729–1790)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Early_American_publishers_and_printers" title="Early American publishers and printers">Early American publishers and printers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Poor_Richard%27s_Almanack" title="Poor Richard's Almanack"><i>Poor Richard's Almanack</i> (1732–1758)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Drinker%27s_Dictionary" title="The Drinker's Dictionary">The Drinker's Dictionary (1737)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Advice_to_a_Friend_on_Choosing_a_Mistress" title="Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress">"Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress" (1745)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Speech_of_Polly_Baker" title="The Speech of Polly Baker">"The Speech of Polly Baker" (1747)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Observations_Concerning_the_Increase_of_Mankind,_Peopling_of_Countries,_etc." title="Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc."><i>Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc.</i> (1751)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Experiments_and_Observations_on_Electricity" title="Experiments and Observations on Electricity"><i>Experiments and Observations on Electricity</i> (1751)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Birch#Copies_of_Franklin_letters" title="Thomas Birch">Birch letters (1755)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Way_to_Wealth" title="The Way to Wealth"><i>The Way to Wealth</i> (1758)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pennsylvania_Chronicle" title="Pennsylvania Chronicle"><i>Pennsylvania Chronicle</i> (1767)</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Rules_By_Which_A_Great_Empire_May_Be_Reduced_To_A_Small_One" class="extiw" title="s:Rules By Which A Great Empire May Be Reduced To A Small One"><i>Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One</i> (1773)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Indian_removal#Benjamin_Franklin" title="Indian removal">Proposed alliance with the Iroquois (1775)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/A_Letter_to_a_Royal_Academy" title="A Letter to a Royal Academy"><i>A Letter to a Royal Academy</i> (1781)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Noble_savage#Benjamin_Franklin's_Remarks_Concerning_the_Savages_of_North_America" class="mw-redirect" title="Noble savage"><i>Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America</i> (1784)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Morals_of_Chess" title="The Morals of Chess">"The Morals of Chess" (1786)</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/An_Address_to_the_Public" class="extiw" title="s:An Address to the Public"><i>An Address to the Public</i> (1789)</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Plan_for_Improving_the_Condition_of_the_Free_Blacks" class="extiw" title="s:A Plan for Improving the Condition of the Free Blacks"><i>A Plan for Improving the Condition of the Free Blacks</i> (1789)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Autobiography_of_Benjamin_Franklin" title="The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin"><i>The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin</i> (1771–1790, pub. 1791)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bagatelles_and_Satires" title="Bagatelles and Satires"><i>Bagatelles and Satires</i> (pub. 1845)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_American_newspapers#The_New_England_Courant" title="History of American newspapers">Franklin as a journalist</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin%27s_phonetic_alphabet" title="Benjamin Franklin's phonetic alphabet">Franklin's phonetic alphabet</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Legacy</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bibliography_of_Benjamin_Franklin" title="Bibliography of Benjamin Franklin">Bibliography</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Franklin_Court" title="Franklin Court">Franklin Court</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_House" title="Benjamin Franklin House">Benjamin Franklin House</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_Institute_of_Technology" class="mw-redirect" title="Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology">Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_Parkway" title="Benjamin Franklin Parkway">Benjamin Franklin Parkway</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_National_Memorial" title="Benjamin Franklin National Memorial">Benjamin Franklin National Memorial</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Franklin_Institute" title="Franklin Institute">Franklin Institute</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Franklin_Institute_Awards" title="Franklin Institute Awards">awards</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Franklin_Medal" title="Franklin Medal">medal</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_Medal_(American_Philosophical_Society)" title="Benjamin Franklin Medal (American Philosophical Society)">Benjamin Franklin Medal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_Medal_(Royal_Society_of_Arts)" title="Benjamin Franklin Medal (Royal Society of Arts)">Royal Society of Arts medal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Apotheosis_of_Washington" title="The Apotheosis of Washington">Depicted in <i>The Apotheosis of Washington</i></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Memorial_to_the_56_Signers_of_the_Declaration_of_Independence" title="Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence">Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(painting)" title="Treaty of Paris (painting)">Treaty of Paris</a></i> (1783 painting)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_Drawing_Electricity_from_the_Sky" title="Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky">Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky</a></i> (1816 painting)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Revolutionary_War_Door" title="Revolutionary War Door">Revolutionary War Door</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Statue_of_Benjamin_Franklin_(Boston)" title="Statue of Benjamin Franklin (Boston)">Boston statue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Statue_of_Benjamin_Franklin_(Chicago)" title="Statue of Benjamin Franklin (Chicago)">Chicago statue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Statue_of_Benjamin_Franklin_(Columbus,_Ohio)" title="Statue of Benjamin Franklin (Columbus, Ohio)">Columbus, Ohio, statue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Statue_of_Benjamin_Franklin_(University_of_Pennsylvania)" title="Statue of Benjamin Franklin (University of Pennsylvania)">University of Pennsylvania statue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Statue_of_Benjamin_Franklin_(Portland,_Oregon)" title="Statue of Benjamin Franklin (Portland, Oregon)">Portland, Oregon, statue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Statue_of_Benjamin_Franklin_(San_Francisco)" title="Statue of Benjamin Franklin (San Francisco)">San Francisco statue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Statue_of_Benjamin_Franklin_(Stanford_University)" title="Statue of Benjamin Franklin (Stanford University)">Stanford University statue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Statue_of_Benjamin_Franklin_(Washington,_D.C.)" title="Statue of Benjamin Franklin (Washington, D.C.)">Washington D.C. statue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jefferson_Memorial#Exterior" title="Jefferson Memorial">Jefferson Memorial pediment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Refunding_Certificate" title="Refunding Certificate">Refunding Certificate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Franklin_half_dollar" title="Franklin half dollar">Franklin half dollar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/United_States_one-hundred-dollar_bill" title="United States one-hundred-dollar bill">One-hundred-dollar bill</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_silver_dollar" title="Benjamin Franklin silver dollar">Franklin silver dollar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Washington%E2%80%93Franklin_Issues" title="Washington–Franklin Issues">Washington–Franklin stamps</a> <ul><li><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Benjamin_Franklin_on_stamps" class="extiw" title="commons:Category:Benjamin Franklin on stamps">other stamps</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_places_named_for_Benjamin_Franklin" title="List of places named for Benjamin Franklin">Cities, counties, schools named for Franklin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_College" title="Benjamin Franklin College">Benjamin Franklin College</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Franklin_Field" title="Franklin Field">Franklin Field</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mount_Franklin_(New_Hampshire)" title="Mount Franklin (New Hampshire)">Mount Franklin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State_of_Franklin" title="State of Franklin">State of Franklin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sons_of_Ben_(MLS_supporters_association)" title="Sons of Ben (MLS supporters association)">Sons of Ben (Philadelphia Union)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/USS_Franklin" title="USS Franklin">Ships named USS <i>Franklin</i></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ben_Franklin_effect" title="Ben Franklin effect">Ben Franklin effect</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_in_popular_culture" title="Benjamin Franklin in popular culture">In popular culture</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ben_and_Me" title="Ben and Me"><i>Ben and Me</i> (1953 short)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ben_Franklin_in_Paris" title="Ben Franklin in Paris"><i>Ben Franklin in Paris</i> (1964 musical play)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1776_(musical)" title="1776 (musical)"><i>1776</i> (1969 musical</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/1776_(film)" title="1776 (film)">1972 film</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_(miniseries)" title="Benjamin Franklin (miniseries)"><i>Benjamin Franklin</i> (miniseries)</a> (1972)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/A_More_Perfect_Union_(film)" title="A More Perfect Union (film)"><i>A More Perfect Union</i> (1989 film)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Liberty!" title="Liberty!"><i>Liberty!</i> (1997 documentary series)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Liberty%27s_Kids" title="Liberty's Kids"><i>Liberty's Kids</i> (2002 animated series)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_(2002_TV_series)" title="Benjamin Franklin (2002 TV series)"><i>Benjamin Franklin</i> (2002 documentary series)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Adams_(miniseries)" title="John Adams (miniseries)"><i>John Adams</i> (2008 miniseries)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sons_of_Liberty_(miniseries)" title="Sons of Liberty (miniseries)"><i>Sons of Liberty</i> (2015 miniseries)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_(film)" title="Benjamin Franklin (film)"><i>Benjamin Franklin</i> (2022 documentary)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Franklin_(miniseries)" title="Franklin (miniseries)"><i>Franklin</i> (2024 miniseries)</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Related</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment" title="Age of Enlightenment">Age of Enlightenment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_Enlightenment" title="American Enlightenment">American Enlightenment</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/The_New-England_Courant" title="The New-England Courant">The New-England Courant</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_American_Museum_(magazine)" title="The American Museum (magazine)"><i>The American Museum</i> magazine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/American_Revolution" title="American Revolution">American Revolution</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Patriot_(American_Revolution)" title="Patriot (American Revolution)">patriots</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Syng_inkstand" title="Syng inkstand">Syng inkstand</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Family</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Deborah_Read" title="Deborah Read">Deborah Read (wife)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/William_Franklin" title="William Franklin">William Franklin (son)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Francis_Folger_Franklin" title="Francis Folger Franklin">Francis Franklin (son)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sarah_Franklin_Bache" title="Sarah Franklin Bache">Sarah Franklin Bache (daughter)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/William_Temple_Franklin" title="William Temple Franklin">William Franklin (grandson)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_Bache" title="Benjamin Franklin Bache">Benjamin F. Bache (grandson)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Louis_Franklin_Bache" title="Louis Franklin Bache">Louis F. Bache (grandson)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Richard_Bache_Jr." title="Richard Bache Jr.">Richard Bache Jr. (grandson)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Andrew_A._Harwood" title="Andrew A. Harwood">Andrew Harwood (great-grandson)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alexander_Dallas_Bache" title="Alexander Dallas Bache">Alexander Bache (great-grandson)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Josiah_Franklin" title="Josiah Franklin">Josiah Franklin (father)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/James_Franklin_(printer)" title="James Franklin (printer)">James Franklin (brother)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jane_Franklin_Mecom" title="Jane Franklin Mecom">Jane Mecom (sister)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mary_Morrell_Folger" title="Mary Morrell Folger">Mary Morrell Folger (grandmother)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peter_Folger_(Nantucket_settler)" title="Peter Folger (Nantucket settler)">Peter Folger (grandfather)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Richard_Bache" title="Richard Bache">Richard Bache (son-in-law)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ann_Smith_Franklin" title="Ann Smith Franklin">Ann Smith Franklin (sister-in-law)</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><span 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href="https://viaf.org/viaf/123951664">VIAF</a></span></li></ul></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">National</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"><ul><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://d-nb.info/gnd/4102578-7">Germany</a></span></li><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://id.loc.gov/authorities/n80064252">United States</a></span></li><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb119835776">France</a></span></li><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://data.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb119835776">BnF data</a></span></li><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" 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