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Details
FRANKLIN, Benjamin (1706-1790). Signer, Pennsylvania. Autograph letter signed twice ("B Franklin" "BF") to Crèvecoeur, Philadelphia, 16 and 17 February 1788. 2 pages, 4to, paper attachment on left margin, small tear affecting five letters of text, otherwise very fine.
FRANKLIN PRAISES CRÈVECOEUR'S "LETTERS" AND COMMENTS ON THE USE OF THE STEAM ENGINE
A delightful letter in which a master of invention, Benjamin Franklin, comments on the potential use of a steam engine to power a boat. Now in his 82nd year, Franklin could rightfully boast success in a multitude of fields ranging from politics to prose. His endeavors into the realms of science and his desire to aid mankind created a legacy which one biographer has called "a roll-call of modern inventions and innovations" (Wright, Franklin of Philadelphia, p. 356). It was from Franklin's genius that inventions such as the Pennsylvania stove and the lightning rod sprung. His enterprising efforts and his innovative intelligence provided comfort and improvement for the masses that was often years ahead of its time.
Franklin's letter begins in praise of Crevecoeur's book Letters from an American Farmer which Franklin had received the previous summer. Franklin writes: "I received from you a most acceptable Present, of your Excellent Work, for which please to receive my hearty Thanks, as well as for the honourable Mention you have been so good as to make of me in it." Predicting the positive impact of the book, Franklin assures Crevecoeur that "The favourable Light un which you have so kindly plac'd our Country, will I am persuaded have the good Effect of inducing many worthy European Characters to remove and settle among us, the Acquisition of whom will be greatly advantageous to us."
After acknowledging that he is sending along a letter from their friend Madame d'Houdetot, Franklin writes a lengthy February 17 postcript referring to a steamboat: "I have received your Favour of the 30th Jany respecting Mr. Fitch's Steam Boat, and asking my Opinion of it. Not being able to go much abroad, I have never seen it; and tho I never doubted that the Force of Steam properly apply'd might be sufficient to move a Boat against the Current in most Rivers; yet when I consider'd the first Cost of such a Machine as the Fire Engine, the Necessity of its being accompany'd constant[ly] by a skillful Engineer to work it, and repair [it] on occasion, who would expect good wages, and...the room it would take up in the Boat, I confess I have fear'd that the Advantage would not be such as to bring the Invention into Use. But the Opinion you have sent me of Mr. [David] Rittenhouse, Who is an excellent Judge, gives me more favourable Sentiments of it."
John Fitch built the first experimental steamboat nearly twenty years before Robert Fulton's Clermont. His prototype, reminiscent of a canoe with six steam-powered oars on each side, was successfully tested on the Delaware River.
FRANKLIN PRAISES CRÈVECOEUR'S "LETTERS" AND COMMENTS ON THE USE OF THE STEAM ENGINE
A delightful letter in which a master of invention, Benjamin Franklin, comments on the potential use of a steam engine to power a boat. Now in his 82nd year, Franklin could rightfully boast success in a multitude of fields ranging from politics to prose. His endeavors into the realms of science and his desire to aid mankind created a legacy which one biographer has called "a roll-call of modern inventions and innovations" (Wright, Franklin of Philadelphia, p. 356). It was from Franklin's genius that inventions such as the Pennsylvania stove and the lightning rod sprung. His enterprising efforts and his innovative intelligence provided comfort and improvement for the masses that was often years ahead of its time.
Franklin's letter begins in praise of Crevecoeur's book Letters from an American Farmer which Franklin had received the previous summer. Franklin writes: "I received from you a most acceptable Present, of your Excellent Work, for which please to receive my hearty Thanks, as well as for the honourable Mention you have been so good as to make of me in it." Predicting the positive impact of the book, Franklin assures Crevecoeur that "The favourable Light un which you have so kindly plac'd our Country, will I am persuaded have the good Effect of inducing many worthy European Characters to remove and settle among us, the Acquisition of whom will be greatly advantageous to us."
After acknowledging that he is sending along a letter from their friend Madame d'Houdetot, Franklin writes a lengthy February 17 postcript referring to a steamboat: "I have received your Favour of the 30th Jany respecting Mr. Fitch's Steam Boat, and asking my Opinion of it. Not being able to go much abroad, I have never seen it; and tho I never doubted that the Force of Steam properly apply'd might be sufficient to move a Boat against the Current in most Rivers; yet when I consider'd the first Cost of such a Machine as the Fire Engine, the Necessity of its being accompany'd constant[ly] by a skillful Engineer to work it, and repair [it] on occasion, who would expect good wages, and...the room it would take up in the Boat, I confess I have fear'd that the Advantage would not be such as to bring the Invention into Use. But the Opinion you have sent me of Mr. [David] Rittenhouse, Who is an excellent Judge, gives me more favourable Sentiments of it."
John Fitch built the first experimental steamboat nearly twenty years before Robert Fulton's Clermont. His prototype, reminiscent of a canoe with six steam-powered oars on each side, was successfully tested on the Delaware River.