Benjamin Franklin's HumorAlthough he called himself merely a ÒprinterÓ in his will, Benjamin Franklin could have also called himself a diplomat, a doctor, an electrician, a frontier general, an inventor, a journalist, a legislator, a librarian, a magistrate, a postmaster, a promoter, a publisherÑand a humorist. John Adams wrote of Franklin, ÒHe had wit at will. He had humor that when he pleased was pleasant and delightful . . . [and] talents for irony, allegory, and fable, that he could adapt with great skill, to the promotion of moral and political truth.Ó In Benjamin FranklinÕs Humor, author Paul M. Zall shows how one of AmericaÕs founding fathers used humor to further both personal and national interests. Early in his career, Franklin impersonated the feisty widow Silence Dogood in a series of comically moralistic essays that helped his brother James outpace competitors in BostonÕs incipient newspaper market. In the mid-eighteenth century, he displayed his talent for comic impersonation in numerous editions of Poor RichardÕs Almanac, a series of pocket-sized tomes filled with proverbs and witticisms that were later compiled in FranklinÕs The Way to Wealth (1758), one of AmericaÕs all-time bestselling books. Benjamin Franklin was sure to be remembered for his early work as an author, printer, and inventor, but his accomplishments as a statesman later in life firmly secured his lofty stature in American history. Zall shows how Franklin employed humor to achieve desired ends during even the most difficult diplomatic situations: while helping draft the Declaration of Independence, while securing FranceÕs support for the American Revolution, while brokering the treaty with England to end the War for Independence, and while mediating disputes at the Constitutional Convention. He supervised and facilitated the birth of a nation with customary wit and aplomb. Zall traces the development of an acute sense of humor throughout the life of a great American. Franklin valued humor not as an end in itself but as a means to gain a competitive edge, disseminate information, or promote a program. Early in life, he wrote about timely topics in an effort to reach a mass reading class, leaving an amusing record of early American culture. Later, Franklin directed his talents toward serving his country. Regardless of its origin, the best of Benjamin FranklinÕs humor transcends its initial purpose and continues to evoke undying laughter at shared human experiences. |
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Page vii
... Friends Overseas 1757-1774 85 6. Losing London 1773-1776 103 7. Seducing Paris 1776-1782 119 8. Comic Release 1783-1785 137 9. Revising Past and Future 1786-1790 153 Notes 169 Sources 175 Index 181 PREFACE A quarter - century ago , I ...
... Friends Overseas 1757-1774 85 6. Losing London 1773-1776 103 7. Seducing Paris 1776-1782 119 8. Comic Release 1783-1785 137 9. Revising Past and Future 1786-1790 153 Notes 169 Sources 175 Index 181 PREFACE A quarter - century ago , I ...
Page 2
... friend Joseph Priestley concurred: “To strangers he was cold and reserved; but where he was intimate, no man indulged more in pleasantry and good humour.”4 In private as in public, the essence of his humor was impersonation. As he ...
... friend Joseph Priestley concurred: “To strangers he was cold and reserved; but where he was intimate, no man indulged more in pleasantry and good humour.”4 In private as in public, the essence of his humor was impersonation. As he ...
Page 3
... friend congratulated him on being named ambassador plenipo- tentiary to the court of France , Franklin told about the two farmers sent to bring home a harrow from a neighbor on their shoulders . One com- plained that no two men on earth ...
... friend congratulated him on being named ambassador plenipo- tentiary to the court of France , Franklin told about the two farmers sent to bring home a harrow from a neighbor on their shoulders . One com- plained that no two men on earth ...
Page 4
... friends, he changed the story from a portrait of the artist as a young man to an apologue on civic virtue for upwardly mobile young America. He gave even humorous scenes a di- dactic moral. In one episode, a Senecan orator blamed rum ...
... friends, he changed the story from a portrait of the artist as a young man to an apologue on civic virtue for upwardly mobile young America. He gave even humorous scenes a di- dactic moral. In one episode, a Senecan orator blamed rum ...
Page 6
... Friends in Countenance . ” ' 16 Wedderburne's insults in the Cockpit infuriated but did not humble him . Franklin labored in London another year , confident that his guile in diplomacy could prevent open rebellion . But Secretary Lord ...
... Friends in Countenance . ” ' 16 Wedderburne's insults in the Cockpit infuriated but did not humble him . Franklin labored in London another year , confident that his guile in diplomacy could prevent open rebellion . But Secretary Lord ...
Contents
1 | |
11 | |
2 Paragraphis in Philadelphia | 27 |
3 Philadelphias Poor Richard | 47 |
4 Philadelphia Comic Relief | 65 |
5 Making Friends Overseas | 85 |
6 Losing London | 103 |
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Common terms and phrases
Albany Congress almanac American Andrew Bradford apologues bagatelles Benjamin Franklin Boston Britain British Business Busy-Body called character Colonies comic common Congress Court D. H. Lawrence Death Elegy England familiar letters Father Abraham Franklin Laughing Franklin on Franklin French Friend Gentleman give hear Honour Hoops Husband Ibid impersonated invective irony Jane Mecom Jonathan Swift Joseph Priestley Keimer Lemay liberty living London Lord Lord Hillsborough Madame Helvétius married Maypole Mother Nature Neighbour never New-England Courant newspaper Number Papers Paris Parliament parody Pennsylvania Gazette perhaps Person petition Philadelphia political Poor Richard says Poor Richard's Almanac popular preface printed Printer proposed Public Advertiser readers Reason satire Scalps September Silence Dogood sketch Spectator spirit story style Swift taxes tell thing Thomas Penn thou tion Titan Leeds told Wife wine Woman Women Words World Writings young Zall