Before He Was a Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin Founded the Lending Library. Now His Belongings Are on Display There Before Heading to Auction

The collection includes writings on Franklin s experiments with electricity. Sotheby’s A receipt from a book sale, discussions of tax negotiations and a mortgage register may not seem worthy of display in their own right. But throw in records of the early electricity experiments that inspired the lightning rod—and did we mention everything was written or owned by Benjamin Franklin?

Dozens of Franklin’s papers are on display at the Library Company of Philadelphia this week, highlights from a collection of more than 150 items that will go up for auction at Sotheby’s in June. Franklin founded the library in 1731, and it was the first successful lending library in the United States.

“You can’t think of Franklin without thinking of Philadelphia and vice versa,” says Selby Kiffer, Sotheby’s specialist for books and manuscripts, to Philly Voice’s Michaela Althouse. “So I think that’s where he’s appreciated. This material, much of it that originated in Philadelphia, it’s now coming back. It’s just a way of celebrating Franklin and Philadelphia during the 250th anniversary of the nation’s birth.”