181 



of the most serviceable is that of Sparks in the latter part of his 

 tenth volume. Another is the admirable one of Lindsay Swift, 

 printed seven years ago by the Boston Public Library. The 

 latest and fullest is the " Franklin Bibliography," of Paul Lei- 

 cester Ford, a very stout octavo volume of nearly five hundred 

 pages, which is intended mainly for the collector and is a 

 minute and exhaustive catalogue of the variations of every 

 possible bibliographical unit. 



In this are cited nine hundred and ninety-seven titles, ar- 

 ranged as follows : 



I. Books and pamphlets wholly or partly written by Franklin. 1-600 

 II. Periodicals and serials containing writings of Franklin 601-618 



III. State Papers and Treaties, in forming which Franklin aided. 619-633 



IV. Works containing letters of Franklin 639-709 



V. Pseudonyms used by Franklin 710-784 



Works relating to, written to, or dedicated to Franklin 790-1002 



In addition to these there are named in the accompanying 

 Reference List other publications, relating in part to Frank- 

 lin, to the number of. 508 



Of the six hundred titles given by Ford in his list of books 

 wholly or partly written by Franklin, there are only about 

 ninety which represent distinct efforts of authorship, even 

 though prefaces, notes in books written by others, and broad- 

 sides be counted. The remaining titles relate to reprints, 

 advertisements, and hypothetical publications of which no 

 copies are known to exist. 



Franklin's literary remains may be classified as follows : 



1. The Autobiography— from 1706 to 1757. 



2. Poor Richard's Almanac, in twenty-six annual issues, 1732-58, culmi- 



nating in " Father Abraham's Speech at the Auction." 



3. Essays upon Manners, Morals and the Science of Life, including the 



so-called Bagatelles, in all sixty titles or more. 



4. Tracts and Papers upon Political Economy, Finance, and the Science 



of Government ; in all about forty titles. 



