Book Reviews: Benjamin Franklin after 200 years | Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London Login to your account Email Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in New User Institutional Login Change Password Old Password New Password Too Short Weak Medium Strong Very Strong Too Long Congrats! Your password has been changed Create a new account Email Returning user Can't sign in? Forgot your password? Enter your email address below and we will send you the reset instructions Email Cancel If the address matches an existing account you will receive an email with instructions to reset your password. Close Request Username Can't sign in? Forgot your username? Enter your email address below and we will send you your username Email Close If the address matches an existing account you will receive an email with instructions to retrieve your username Cookies Notification This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Find out more. × brought to you byCarnegie Mellon University Skip main navigationJournal menuClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer MenuHome All Journals Biographical Memoirs Biology Letters Interface Interface Focus Notes and Records Open Biology Philosophical Transactions A Philosophical Transactions B Proceedings A Proceedings B Royal Society Open Science Brought to you by Carnegie Mellon University Sign in 0 Cart Search Anywhere This Journal Quick Search anywhereEnter words, phrases, DOI, keywords, authors, etc... SearchGo Quick Search in JournalsEnter words, phrases, DOI, keywords, authors, etc... SearchGo Advanced Search Skip main navigationJournal menuClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer MenuHome Home Content Published ahead of print Latest issue All content Subject collections Blog posts Information for Authors Guest organizers Reviewers Readers Institutions About us About the journal Editorial board Author benefits Policies Journal metrics Open access Sign up Purchase eTOC alerts RSS feeds Newsletters Request a free trial Submit Restricted access MoreSections Get Access Get Access Tools Add to favorites Download Citations Track Citations Share Share on Facebook Twitter Linked In Reddit Email Cite this article 1990Book Reviews: Benjamin Franklin after 200 yearsNotes Rec. R. Soc. Lond.44269–279http://doi.org/10.1098/rsnr.1990.0023 Section Restricted accessBook review Book Reviews: Benjamin Franklin after 200 years Published:01 July 1990https://doi.org/10.1098/rsnr.1990.0023 Abstract The papers of Benjamin Franklin, ed. Claude A. Lopez. New Haven: Yale University Press, Volume 27,1988. Pp. 727. £45. ISBN 0-300-04177-2. This chunky volume of 727 pages covers four months of Franklin’s life, from July to October 1778. As it happens, these months are probably the least significant four months in Franklin’s years in Paris. The treaty of alliance with France had been signed in February, and it was bringing a French army, a French fleet and vast quantities of munitions to aid the American cause; and it took France into war with Britain, as part of that second Hundred Years’ War that began in 1702 and ceased only in 1815. But whatever Franklin’s public fame in Paris as a scientist and as a Voltaire from the backwoods, and whatever his skill as architect of the alliance, the French Foreign Minister, Vergennes, having committed his country to the American cause, preferred to deal with the American Congress via his minister-plenipotentiary in Congress, ConradAlexandre Gerard, rather than through the quarrelsome American envoys in Passy. He liked and appreciated the sagacity of Franklin, but he found it hard to be patient, as did Franklin himself, with the prickly Lees, Arthur and William, and with vain and irascible John Adams, whom he tried to persuade Franklin to have recalled. Footnotes This text was harvested from a scanned image of the original document using optical character recognition (OCR) software. As such, it may contain errors. Please contact the Royal Society if you find an error you would like to see corrected. Mathematical notations produced through Infty OCR. Previous Article Next Article Access options Sign in for Fellows of the Royal Society Please access the online journals via the Fellows’ Room Not a subscriber? You canrequest a library trial. Personal login Username or email Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Institutional login Purchase Save for later Item saved, go to cart Notes and Records - PPV issue - 25 to 69 years old $22.00 Add to cart Notes and Records - PPV issue - 25 to 69 years old Checkout Restore content access Figures Related References Details 31 July 1990 Volume 44Issue 2 Article Information DOI:https://doi.org/10.1098/rsnr.1990.0023 Published by:Royal Society History: Published online01/01/1997 Published in print01/07/1990 Copyright and usage: Scanned images copyright © 2017, Royal Society Statistics from Altmetric Close Figure Viewer Browse All FiguresReturn to FigureChange zoom levelZoom inZoom out Previous FigureNext Figure Caption NOTES AND RECORDS About this journal Contact information Purchasing information Submit Author benefits Open access membership Recommend to your library Help Author benefits Purchasing information Submit Open access membership Recommend to your library Contact information Help ROYAL SOCIETY PUBLISHING Our journals Open access Publishing policies Permissions Conferences Videos Blog Manage your account Terms & conditions Privacy policy Cookies Our journals Historical context Open access Publishing policies Permissions Conferences Videos Blog Manage your account Terms & conditions Privacy policy Cookies THE ROYAL SOCIETY About us Contact us Fellows Events Grants, schemes & awards Topics & policy Collections Venue hire About us Contact us Fellows Events Grants, schemes & awards Topics & policy Collections Venue hire Back to top Copyright © 2021 The Royal Society