Printer, inventor, founding father: Franklin's own account of his rise, written as advice to his son.
Books mentioned in The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (20)
The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan: “Pleased with the _Pilgrim's Progress_, my first collection was of John Bunyan's works in separate little volumes.”
Plutarch's Lives by Plutarch: “Plutarch's Lives there was in which I read abundantly, and I still think that time spent to great advantage.”
An Essay on Projects by Daniel Defoe: “There was also a book of DeFoe's, called an _Essay on Projects_, and another of Dr.”
Essays to do Good by Cotton Mather: “Mather's, called _Essays to do Good_, which perhaps gave me a turn of thinking that had an influence on some of the principal future events of my life.”
Cocker's Arithmetick by Edward Cocker: “I took Cocker's book of Arithmetick, and went through the whole by myself with great ease.”
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke: “And I read about this time Locke On Human Understanding, and the Art of Thinking, by Messrs. du Port Royal.”
Logic or the Art of Thinking by Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole: “And I read about this time Locke On Human Understanding, and the Art of Thinking, by Messrs. du Port Royal.”
The Memorable Thoughts of Socrates by Xenophon: “soon after I procur'd Xenophon's Memorable Things of Socrates, wherein there are many instances of the same method.”
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: “De Foe in his Cruso, his Moll Flanders, Religious Courtship, Family Instructor, and other pieces, has imitated it with success”
Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe: “De Foe in his Cruso, his Moll Flanders, Religious Courtship, Family Instructor, and other pieces, has imitated it with success; and Richardson[26] has done the same in his Pamela, etc.”
Religious Courtship by Daniel Defoe: “De Foe in his Cruso, his Moll Flanders, Religious Courtship, Family Instructor, and other pieces, has imitated it with success”
Family Instructor by Daniel Defoe: “De Foe in his Cruso, his Moll Flanders, Religious Courtship, Family Instructor, and other pieces, has imitated it with success”
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson: “De Foe in his Cruso, his Moll Flanders, Religious Courtship, Family Instructor, and other pieces, has imitated it with success; and Richardson[26] has done the same in his Pamela, etc.”
The Religion of Nature Delineated by William Wollaston: “At Palmer's I was employed in composing for the second edition of Wollaston's "Religion of Nature."”
The Infallibility of Human Judgment by Lyons: “My pamphlet by some means falling into the hands of one Lyons, a surgeon, author of a book entitled "The Infallibility of Human Judgment," it occasioned an acquaintance between us.”
The Fable of the Bees by Bernard Mandeville: “Mandeville, author of the "Fable of the Bees," who had a club there, of which he was the soul, being a most facetious, entertaining companion.”
The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency by Benjamin Franklin: “Our debates possess'd me so fully of the subject, that I wrote and printed an anonymous pamphlet on it, entitled "_The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency_."”
Poor Richard's Almanack by Benjamin Franklin: “In 1732 I first publish'd my Almanack, under the name of Richard Saunders; it was continu'd by me about twenty-five years, commonly call'd Poor Richard's Almanac.”
Books that mention The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (2)
Botchan by Natsume Sōseki: “Red Shirt should have been a little more considerate. And if he wants to mention such names at all, let him mention "Autobiography of Ben Franklin," or "Pushing to the Front," or something we all know.”
A Six-Foot Sickbed by Masaoka Shiki: “Around this time last year I read The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin as a daily task. The small foreign print was hard going, so I read three pages and stopped, five pages and stopped, struggling through, but the pleasure I got from it was immense. [auto-translated]”