Containing over 4 linear feet of letters and documents, the Franklin-Bache Papers comprises the second largest collection of letters and documents relating to Benjamin Franklin in the APS Library. Although the scope of the collection is broad, including materials from the time of Franklin's arrival in Philadelphia to his death, the heart of the collection documents the period of Franklin's ministry in France (1776-1785) and his diplomatic efforts to win financial and military support for the revolutionary cause, as well as less intensive coverage of his ministry in England before the Revolution.

Franklin's correspondence with American and French officials, financiers (personal and otherwise), and savants provides tantalizing details on the social context of Franklin's ministry in France, his intellectual life, and his growing celebrity. Much of the correspondence documents the efforts to convince French officials early in the war to support the American cause, but there is valuable material relating to the peace negotiations as well. Particularly interesting are the numerous letters of instruction from Congress and from individuals such as Arthur Lee, Silas Deane, Robert Morris, Robert R. Livingston, and Henry Laurens. Other correspondents, notably Richard Bache and Francis Hopkinson, kept Franklin apprised of news and public opinion in America or, like Thomas Paine and Richard Price, offer insights into political currents more generally.

The personal side of Franklin's correspondence, as much as it might be considered separate from the political, is equally revealing. The collection includes numerous letters with Franklin's many female admirers and friends, including Georgiana Shipley (a cousin of the Duchess of Devonshire) and his long-time confidante Catharine Ray Greene. In the years flanking Franklin's residence in France, there is a particularly extensive set of letters from Mary Stevenson Hewson, that flesh out his experiences in London during the 1760s and early 1770s, and some valuable family letters. The earliest materials (prior to 1752) consist largely of deeds and other documents relating to the Read family, along with three letters from Franklin's mother-in-law Sarah White Read, and one from his mother, Abiah, which join approximately 30 letters between Franklin and his wife Deborah and over 70 from his sister Jane Mecom. Other family members, including his son William and grandsons Benjamin Franklin Bache and William Temple Franklin, appear.

The Franklin-Bache Papers are somewhat less rich in material relating to Franklin's scientific and intellectual pursuits, however there are excellent letters from scientific correspondents such as Joseph Priestley, the comte de Buffon, and Joseph Banks. Other miscellaneous items of interest include Franklin's pencil sketch of his garden at Passy (March 27, 1782), the drawing of pleasure boats on the Delaware River, and a profile of Franklin (after the Nini medallion) sent by Isidoro Bianchi that was drawn with electricity.

When acquired, the collection includes a number of important bound volumes, which are listed separately under the Franklin miscellaneous collections.

Provenance

The Franklin-Bache Papers were acquired from Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Bache in 1937.

Preferred citation

Cite as: Franklin-Bache Papers, American Philosophical Society.

Processing information

Recatalogued rsc, 2003.

General physical description

4 linear feet

Separated material

Oversized items are housed at the end of the collection; extra-oversize materials are housed separately.

Related material

Naval History Note

The Franklin-Bache Papers contain a few letters pertaining to John Paul Jones which may be of interest to naval historians:

1. Mecom, Jane Franklin. Letter to Benjamin Franklin. 1780 March 27. News of John Paul Jones. 2 pages.
2. Bache, Richard. Letter to Benjamin Franklin. 1781 March 28. Sending newspapers. John Paul Jones brought Franklin's letters and news. 1 item.
3. Jones, John Paul. Letter to Benjamin Franklin. 1781 August 8. Introducing Mr. Thomas Barclay. 1 page.
4. Jones, John Paul. Letter to Benjamin Franklin. 1781 December 13. News of self and of the war. 2 pages.

Early American History Note

The Papers of Benjamin Franklin are a rich source as varied and expansive as Dr. Franklin’s storied life. The Collection has been calendared, catalogued, and much of it is available online at franklinpapers.org and in printed volumes. The APS inventory in MOLE is extraordinarily detailed. The aim of this entry is not to reproduce what is already readily accessible, but to focus on material that is unavailable in printed or online sources.

Most notable are a series of bound volumes that capture different aspects of Franklin’s professional career. The bound volumes include a nearly complete record of the colonial Post Office that Franklin headed, numerous account books from Franklin’s time in England and France, and official account books of the U.S. mission in France. In addition to these bound account and ledger books, the collection also includes a copy of the earliest deed known deed for the Pennsylvania statehouse property, various sketches and drawings thought to be done by Franklin, and four large volumes of a journal of John Lindsay Crawford’s travels with the Russian Army from 1737-1739 that include large maps of Europe that Franklin kept in his library (these four volumes are separately described in MOLE under Crawford).

The Franklin Papers, along with the papers of his grandsons at the APS, provide a nearly complete picture of Benjamin’s time in France as an American ambassador to France during the American Revolution. Aside from the manuscript records from this period, the collection has a nearly complete set of account books detailing both the official and personal transactions of Franklin in France.

The APS also houses a collection of books that came from Franklin’s personal library. The library offers insight into Franklin’s own reading and intellectual life. A box of miscellaneous papers in the manuscript collection may also be of related research interest. This box includes a variety of documents that Franklin had in his possession, such as copies of newspapers that have marginalia, that are not included in the official published papers.

Genre(s)

• Business Records and Accounts
• Miscellaneous
• Pen works
• Pencil works

Geographic Name(s)

• France--Foreign relations--United States
• United States--Foreign relations--France
• United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783
• United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--French participation
• United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Peace

Personal Name(s)

• Bache, Benjamin Franklin, 1769-1798
• Bache, Richard, 1737-1811
• Bache, Sarah Franklin, 1743-1808
• Banks, Joseph, Sir, 1743-1820
• Barbé-Marbois, Francois, marquis de, 1745-1837
• Benezet, Anthony, 1713-1784
• Blunt, Dorothea, 1733-1809
• Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de, 1707-1788
• Chaumont, Jacques-Donatien Leray de, 1725-1803
• Childs, Francis, 1763-1830
• Deane, Silas, 1737-1789
• Dumas, Charles-Guillaume-Frédéric
• Franklin, Abiah Folger, 1667-1752
• Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790
• Franklin, Deborah Read Rogers, 1708-1774
• Franklin, William Temple, 1760-1823
• Franklin, William, 1731-1813
• Grand, Ferdinand
• Greene, Catherine Ray, 1731-1794
• Hewson, Mary Stevenson, 1734-1795
• Hopkinson, Francis, 1737-1791
• Jay, John, 1745- 1829
• Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826
• Jones, John Paul, 1747-1792
• La Rochefoucauld, Louis Alexandre, duc de
• Laurens, John, 1754-1782
• Le Ray de Chaumont, J. (James), 1760-1841
• Lee, Arthur, 1740-1792
• Lee, Richard Henry, 1732-1794
• Livingston, Robert R., 1746-1813
• Logan, James, 1674-1751
• Lotbinière, Michael Alain Chartier de, 1723-1798
• Mecom, Jane Franklin, 1712-1794
• Morris, Robert, 1734-1806
• Paine, Thomas, 1737-1809
• Penn, William,1644-1718.
• Peters, Richard, 1743-1828
• Price, Richard, 1723-1791
• Priestley, Joseph, 1733-1804
• Read, Sarah White, 1675-1761
• Rittenhouse, David, 1732-1796
• Rush, Benjamin, 1746-1813
• Shipley, Georgiana, d.1806
• Shipley, Joseph, 1714-1788
• Todd, Anthony, 1717-1798
• Turgot, Anne-Robert-Jacques, baron de l'Aulne, 1727-1781
• Vaughan, Benjamin, 1751-1835
• Vergennes, Charles Gravier, comte de, 1717-1787
• Washington, George, 1732-1799
• West, Benjamin, 1738-1820

Subject(s)

• Colonial Politics
• Colony and State Specific History
• Pennsylvania History
• Philadelphia History
• Postal service--United States
• Printing and Publishing
• Printing--France