The Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin

Arion Press – Limited Editon

Commonly known as The Autobiography, the Arion edition has been published in celebration of the three-hundredth anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's birth. It is being published here under the title Franklin himself used in referring to his manuscript. Unpublished at the time of his death, it has since become the most widely read memoir of all time. In the Arion Press edition, this classic is letterpress printed from a new digital typeface with historical relevance for Franklin and the American Revolution.

Franklin’s Memoirs present with vividness the key episodes in a young man’s rise, from poor apprentice to prominent citizen. Its unifying theme is the lessons in behavior and morality he learns along the way. It has been accurately described as a conduct book, but it is a greatly entertaining one. The Memoirs bring Franklin the writer to life for the modern reader, as a storyteller of genius, who chooses just the right moment to laugh at himself.

This edition marks the first use of an historic American typeface, Binny & Ronaldson's Roman No. 1 (c. 1800), as recreated in digital form by Arion Press and named Aitken for Robert Aitken, the famous printer during the Revolution, and his daughter Jane Aitken, printer of the first American translation of the Bible (1808).

The Book
The book consists of 188 pages. The format is octavo, 9 by 6.5 inches. The paper is Somerset Book, an all-cotton fiber English mouldmade paper. The frontispiece portrait of Franklin is adapted from the $100 bill, enlarged as required by law. The portrait and type are printed from photopolymer plates by letterpress. The binding is of full brown goatskin with gold titling on the spine and an oval silhouette of Franklin in profile, adapted from the postage stamp, on the front cover. Accompanying the book is a keepsake detailing the history of the discovery and acquisition of Franklin's lost manuscript by John Bigelow in Paris in 1867.

Edition and Price
The edition is limited to 400 numbered copies for sale and twenty-six lettered copies hors de commerce. The price is $600 per copy.

About the Arion Press

Since its inception in 1974, the Arion Press has published 81 deluxe limited editions that are breathtaking in their scope and artistry. Combining notable literature illustrated with original artwork from prominent artists, Andrew Hoyem and his team at the Arion Press have carried on the tradition of the livre d’artiste in spectacular fashion. Michael Kimmelman of the New York Times put it best when he wrote, "The Arion Press produces some of the most beautiful limited-edition, hand printed books in the world."