Right now I’m in the middle of Benjamin Franklin’s “Autobiography.” Many of us have read excerpts from his fascinating life (Franklin certainly knows how to tell a story), but never found the time to sit down and read it from cover to cover. In his autobiography, you not only learn about this founding father and the father of electricity, but also much pithy wisdom on thrift, avoiding dodgy people (which Franklin often learned the hard way), as well as a general feel for what it was like to live in Revolutionary times.
Thanks to the wonderful volunteers at LibreVox, if you don’t have time to read Ben Franklin’s autobiography, you can listen to it read as an audiobook.
Post-reading notes: it surprised me, how enjoyable it was to read Ben Franklin’s autobiography. I tore through the book, while my husband tore through the audiobook version in a single long commute. I can see why he was able to charm the French into backing our fledgling democracy.
Next up on the list is John Woolman’s “Journal.” John Woolman was a Quaker, one of our first anti-slavery abolitionists, and also gave dire warnings about the abuse of power by the wealthy elite (hmmm…. where have we heard that lately?) I’ll come back and add my thoughts as soon as I’ve had a chance to read the full journal and not just the random quotes that I got spoon-fed in a college literature class a long time ago.
Thanks to the volunteers at LibreVox, Journal is also available as an audiobook.
Post-reading notes: the ‘Journal’ was a lot slower than Ben Franklin’s autobiography. But I’m glad I slogged through it because I happened to have the book on me when a citizen petition came up at town meeting to help save the old Quaker meetinghouse in our town and, when somebody stood up to argue that the town shouldn’t preserve this ‘racist’ historic landmark, I was able to totally eviscerate them by pointing out that these “old, white men” founded the abolitionist movement which led to the northern states banning slavery.
Lastly, we shall read “The Fruits of Solitude” by William Penn (first governor of Pennsylvania). A devout Quaker, Fruits of Solitude is a collection of beautiful spiritual quotes that covers just about every situation where a person might need guidance. Alas, I’ve searched high and low, but the only audio version of “The Fruits of Solitude” is a very high quality, but nonetheless mechanical audio edition that was generated for the visually impaired. But you can get an idea of the way Penn’s devotional is meant to be read by clicking the video above.
What really surprised me, in researching William Penn, is that rather than a stuffy old Quaker, he was a passionate rabble-rouser, early revolutionary, and visionary hero. This short (29 min) video documentary sums it up:
Post-reading notes: these are nice to keep with you and read in short snippets of feel-good wisdom. Kind of like a Guideposts for Colonial America.
I’ll come back and add additional thoughts, as well as links to some video lectures that I found discussing each of these works.
Happy reading!
DOWNLOAD THE BOOK in .epub, .mobi or .pdf:
The Harvard Classics, Volume 1: Benjamin Franklin’s “Autobiography“, the Journal of John Woolman, and “The Fruits of Solitude” by William Penn
DOWNLOAD THE AUDIOBOOKS:
Benjamin Franklin “Autobiography” (version 1)
Benjamin Franklin “Autobiography” (version 2)
The Harvard Classics, Volume 1: including “The Fruits of Solitude” (NOTE: ai-generated reading)
RELATED VIDEOS:
Benjamin Franklin: Author of the Declaration of Independence | Full Documentary (46:38 min)
Benjamin Franklin (2002) – PBS Documentary (3:13:56 min)
Who is John Woolman? (4:48 min)
John Woolman A Quaker 1720-1772 (a young person’s perspective) (13:03 min)
John Woolman On Being Prophetic (a historical re-enactment of part of the Journal) (15:06 min)
In Penn’s Shadow (1680-1720) – Philadelphia: The Great Experiment (documentary) (28:55)
William Penn “Fruits of Solitude” – on death (beautiful video) (1:15 min)