OVERVIEW

If your calendar was found 275 years from now, what would people think?

Among the Rosenbach’s Franklin holdings is the only surviving first printing of the celebrated Poor Richard almanac (1733). While this unique survival travels with the tercentenary exhibition Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World, a larger collection of Poor Richard almanacs, printed by Franklin and annotated by his friend and fellow statesman Isaac Norris, will be the subject of the Rosenbach’s own exhibition, Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard: Anatomy of an Almanac.

Philadelphia was Franklin’s adopted city and home base during the important years before, during, and after the American Revolution. The Rosenbach's Franklin collection numbers just over 100 objects including, most notably, manuscripts by and about him, imprints from his own press, and prints and drawings with him as the subject. Many of these are on display in the new exhibition.

Many of the stories that the almanacs tell, such as the arrival of the Liberty Bell, appear in the margins as hand-written notes recorded by Norris. Other episodes, like the loss of 11 days from the calendar of 1752, are explained by Franklin himself in the printed text of the fascinating artifacts. These tiny treasure troves are at once relics of the birth of a nation and chronicles of the routines of daily life in colonial America. The exhibition and its accompanying programs welcome adults, families, and groups to experience first-hand some of Franklin’s most famous works.

The Rosenbach is also a partner in the city-wide celebration and a lender to the traveling exhibition Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World, with selected objects from its collections going to every venue. The Rosenbach’s own sole-surviving first printing of Franklin’s famed 1733 almanac is traveling with the tercentenary exhibition and provides a link between the Rosenbach and larger, city-wide exhibition.

Ben Franklin 300 Philadelphia refers to the year-long commemoration of Franklin’s 300th birthday in Philadelphia. The celebration runs through 2006 and focuses on the world premiere of the international traveling exhibition currently on display at the National Constitution Center. It is being coordinated by the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary and will include an array of complementary exhibitions, lectures, symposia, concerts and special events at many of the region’s restaurants, hotels, historical and cultural organizations, including the Rosenbach.

Major support for Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard: Anatomy of an Almanac comes from the Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and friends and supporters of the Rosenbach.

PRESS MATERIALS

	Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard: Anatomy of an Almanac	Ben Franklin 300 Philadelphia (Tercentenary)	WHYY-TV production of About Benjamin