Rare bilingual edition of Benjamin Franklin's famous book of aphorisms: The Way to Wealth, or Poor Richard Improved; La science du Bonhomme, Richard, ou moyen facile de payer les impôts. First edition thus. Paris: Printed for Ant. Aug. Renouard, 1795. Hardcover bound in polished blue calf with gilt-stamped spine in compartments and marbled endpapers, 4.5 x 7.25, 181 pages. This scarce large-paper printing of Franklin's popular work features an engraved handsome frontispiece portrait of the author by Alexandre Tardieu after Duplessis. This edition also includes Franklin’s private letter to Madame Passy, along with "Dialogue entre la goutte et Franklin,” the poem "Le Sage et la goutte," and the essay "Quelques mots sur l'Amérique, avis à ceux qui voudroient aller s'établir dans cette contrée.” Franklin’s epitaph appears in both French and English. Book condition: VG+/None, with some edgewear and rubbing to boards. A handsome volume attesting to Franklin's enduring popularity in France, where he had served as US Minister from 1779 to 1785.
