1901.] ROSENGARTEN — FRANKLIN' S BAGATELLES. 87 



FRANKLIN'S BAGATELLES. 



BY J. G. ROSENGARTEN. 



{Read May 17, 1901. ) 



The Philosophical Society has in its Library seventy-six folio vol- 

 umes of Franklin's Papers. From these I have had made by Miss 

 Harjes, of the Library staff, exact copies of some of the very rare 

 ' Bagatelles, and some of the correspondence referring to them. 

 The papers thus collected include : 



i. An unfinished draught, in Franklin's handwriting, of "The 

 Deform d and Handsome Leg" (Vol. 50, No. 40). 



2. "The Ephemera," in French (Vol. 50, No. 39). 



3. A letter to Mme. Brillon from Franklin about his " Dia- 

 logue between Franklin and the Gout " (Vol. 46, No. 44 — the vol- 

 nme is labeled "Letters from Franklin to his Wife — 1755-1774"). 



4. The " Story of the Whistle," with the English version dated 

 Passy, Nov. 16, 1779, and the French version, the former on the 

 right, the latter on the left side of the pages, and both with many 

 corrections (Vol. 45, No. 149^). 



5. A letter from Franklin, in French, to an unknown corre- 

 spondent, dated Passy, April 8, 1784: "I send you ' Advice to 

 those who wish to go to America' and ' Remarks on the Politeness 

 of Savages.' If you have ' The Handsome and Deform' d Leg' and 

 1 The Morals of Chess,' with those I now send you, you have a 

 complete collection of all my Bagatelles printed at Passy" (Vol. 

 45, No. 181). 



6. " Dialogue between Franklin and the Gout," in French, 

 with numerous corrections in the text and marginal notes (Vol. 50, 

 No. 36). 



7. Extracts from 115 letters from Mme. Brillon to Franklin and 

 some of his in reply (Vols. 43 and 47), many relating to the 

 French versions of his Bagatelles, etc., with a press copy of his 

 letter to her of November 23, 1784, and an original of his letter to 

 her undated ; one from her about the surrender of Cornwallis, 

 who, she says, had been Burgoyned by the Americans, and his 

 answer, dated Passy, December 25, 1781, both in French. 



Her letters compliment him on his capital French, and make fre- 

 quent references to his Bagatelles, e. g. : 



8. Vol. 43, No. 77, and particularly — 



