{"id":46911,"date":"2018-12-19T12:41:11","date_gmt":"2018-12-19T17:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=46911"},"modified":"2023-08-04T11:37:27","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T15:37:27","slug":"on-this-day-the-birth-of-benjamin-franklins-poor-richards-almanack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/on-this-day-the-birth-of-benjamin-franklins-poor-richards-almanack.html","title":{"rendered":"On This Day: The Birth of Benjamin Franklin\u2019s \u2018Poor Richard\u2019s Almanack\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega writes about one of Benjamin Franklin\u2019s greatest creations: \u201cPoor Richard\u2019s Almanack.\u201d Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Benjamin Franklin. Founding Father, diplomat, scientist, inventor, politician, publisher, and author. One of Franklin\u2019s legacies is his publication Poor Richard\u2019s Almanack<\/em> [Almanac]. The first edition of this annual work was published on 19 December 1732 and continued on for the next 25 years. (1) Franklin\u2019s almanac was written under the nom de plume Richard Saunders, or \u201cPoor Richard.\u201d Although it wasn\u2019t the first almanac printed in the United States (that honor goes to the 1639 almanac published by William Pierce of Harvard College), it was immensely popular, selling up to 10,000 copies each year. (2)<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: 1739 edition of \u201cPoor Richard’s Almanack.\u201d Credit: Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Poor Richard\u2019s Almanack<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

What is an almanac? Google defines it as \u201can annual calendar containing important dates and statistical information such as astronomical data and tide tables.\u201d (3) When I think of an almanac, I tend to think of weather predictions and when to plant crops.<\/p>\n

Franklin\u2019s Almanack<\/em> had some of that information and more. What information was in the first editions of Poor Richard\u2019s Almanack<\/em>? This advertisement from the Weekly Rehearsal<\/em> gives a synopsis of the second edition, for the year 1734:<\/p>\n

\u201cAn ALMANACK containing the Lunations, Eclipses, Planets Motions and Aspects, Weather, Sun and Moon\u2019s Rising and Setting, High-water, &c. Besides many Pleasant and Witty Verses, Jests and notable Sayings.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Weekly Rehearsal (Boston, Massachusetts), 17 December 1733, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Almanack<\/em> was a combination of Franklin\u2019s wit and sarcasm, as well as practical information and probably what he is most remembered for: proverbs.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 29 December 1747, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the most familiar proverbs is found in the 1735 edition of the Almanack<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.\u201d (4)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s just one of the sayings colonial readers learned from Franklin. Others include:<\/p>\n