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Significant Signatures: A letter by Benjamin Franklin
Visitors to Waddesdon Manor currently have the unique opportunity to see a selection of rarely displayed autograph letters as part of Significant Signatures: Autograph Letters from the Waddesdon Archive. These documents were written by some of the most famous figures in history.
The collection was compiled by Baron Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934) in Paris. These were then passed down to his son James de Rothschild (1878-1957) who owned the Manor. Catalogue entries and images of the entire autograph letters collection can be found on the Waddesdon Collection catalogue.
In this blog post we explore our extraordinary Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) letter in detail. It is one of the few we have written in English and arguably Franklin has the best handwriting in the collection. A transcription of this letter can be found here , alongside transcriptions and translations of all the letters on display in Significant Signatures: Autograph Letters from the Waddesdon Archive.
It is surprising that such a short letter encapsulates so many aspects of the famous American’s life; his diplomatic career, his scientific work, and his links to France. This may have been one of the reasons Edmond wanted the revolutionary statesmen’s letter in his collection.
Written on 2 September 1783, Franklin was 78 years old and living in Passy which is now part of the Parisian suburbs. He arrived in the country in 1776 to serve as the first US ambassador to France. Just a day after he wrote this letter one of the most significant events in the founding of America took place – the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which he refers to as ‘our Definitive Treaty.’ After months of negotiations in the city it was named after, the treaty between Great Britain and the United States brought an end to the American Revolution through Britain’s acceptance of American independence and its territorial boundaries. Franklin writes that it will establish ‘for the present the Peace of Europe & America. Long, long may it continue!’
Not only does this letter relate to such an important moment in America’s history, it also explores Franklin’s career as a scientist and inventor. It is written to another famous man of his time and fellow scientist, ‘Dr Ingenhauss’. This is Jan Ingenhousz, a Dutch-British physician and scientist who is known best for his discovery of photosynthesis and his role in inoculating the Austrian royal family, including Empress Maria Theresa, against smallpox.
Franklin garnered much celebrity during his lifetime for his scientific experiments and discoveries including his invention of the lightning rod. His level of fame is shown by this eighteenth century French print called ‘To the Genius of Franklin’, where he is depicted in the centre as a Zeus-like figure.
Marguerite Gérard | To the Genius of Franklin | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
In the letter Franklin is telling his friend about ‘the Ballons that at present occasion much Con-versation’ in Paris. These balloons are the first hot air balloons which were invented in Paris in 1783 by the Montgolfier brothers. Franklin was deeply interested in the discovery and just weeks after writing this letter he witnessed the first untethered hot air balloon flight alongside thousands of eager onlookers. This took place at The Palace of Versailles in front of King Louis XVI, when a sheep, a duck and a cockerel were placed into a basket and sent 600m up into the air, before being brought down safely.
Source: Wellcome Collection
This letter is just one of a huge amount of correspondence Franklin produced in his lifetime, much of which he saved himself for posterity. Because of his diverse career and interests, historians and researchers are still fascinated by his life in letters. So much so that his surviving correspondence has been collected and published. The Papers of Benjamin Franklin will reach nearly 50 volumes and is published online via the US National Archives – our letter included! From Benjamin Franklin to Ingenhousz, 2 September 1783
A huge amount of work has taken place to make the transcriptions of his letters accessible, which gives us the unique opportunity to see Waddesdon’s letter in context. We can read the letter Franklin was replying to, in which his friend Ingenhousz urges him to ‘disentangle your Self from the boisterous and capricious Political world’ once he has signed the Treaty and to pursue ‘philosophical tranquillity’ in the later part of his life. To Benjamin Franklin from Ingenhousz, 1 September 1783
We can even read the letter he enclosed a copy of for Igenhousz where Franklin describes the ‘new aerostatic Experiment’ taking place in Paris and one hot air balloon demonstration by the Montgolfiers rival that had ‘not less than 50,000 People… assembled to see the Experiment’. This was originally written for Joseph Banks, another scientist famous for his voyages to Newfoundland and the South Pacific Ocean. From Benjamin Franklin to Joseph Banks, 30 August[–2 September 1783]
Benjamin Franklin | National Portrait Gallery
The Benjamin Franklin letter we have on display at Waddesdon gives a brief glimpse of almost 250 years into the past and opens up a rich history for us to explore. It shows how just one document can tell so many stories and that this autograph letter collection has many more stories yet to tell.