作者及作品介绍(富兰克林传)

The Introduction of the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

About the author:

Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17,

1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United

States. A renowned polymath, Franklin was a leading

author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster,

scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and

diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major figure in

the American Enlightenment and the history of

physics for his discoveries and theories regarding

electricity. As an inventor, he is known for

the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove,

among other inventions.

His colorful life and legacy of scientific and

political achievement, and status as one of America's

most influential Founding Father, have seen Franklin honored on coinage and the $100 bill, warships, the names of many towns, counties, educational institutions, corporations, and more than two centuries after his death, countless cultural references.

About the work:

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is the traditional name for the unfinished record of his own life written by Benjamin Franklin from 1771 to 1790. However, Franklin himself appears to have called the work his Memoirs. Although it had a tortuous publication history after Franklin's death, this work has become one of the most famous and influential examples of an autobiography ever written.

Franklin's account of his life is divided into four parts, reflecting the different periods at which he wrote them. There are actual breaks in the narrative between the first three parts, but Part Three's narrative continues into Part Four without an authorial break.