Community Calendar

Ben Franklin’s “Way to Wealth”, first published in 1758 as the untitled preface to his final Poor Richard’s Almanac came to be published by 1851 in 26 languages and at least 1200 times. This short text of about 3,500 words, advised readers to work hard, save their money, and not go into debt. It backed up this message with aphorisms, among them “A penny saved is a penny earned” and “Lost time is never found again.” Who were the publishers? Who were the readers? And why was this text so widely disseminated? What was its impact? Is it the origin of the “American dream”? Ken Carpenter majored in history at Bowdoin, spent his career in the Harvard University libraries, working mostly with rare books. He became interested in the dissemination of pre-1851 economic literature through translation and was able to carry out research in libraries in Europe and the United States, including the Bowdoin College Library. In 2002, shortly after retirement, he published a book on the French translations of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, and he has continued to seek out and describe translations of this work. The study of Franklin’s “Way to Wealth” grows out of this larger project.

Download iCal