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Article: The Radical Enlightenments of Benjamin Franklin.(Review) (book reviews)
- Article from:
- The Historian
- Article date:
- June 22, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Radical Enlightenments of Benjamin Franklin. By Douglas Anderson. (Baltimore & London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997. Pp. xxii, 261. $39.95.)
The author, an American literature scholar, explores how Benjamin Franklin, avidly devouring books during his adolescence and young adulthood, experienced "radical enlightenments" and later manifested these in his writing and public activities. Anderson's study of Franklin's intellectual life covers the period from his 1722 Silence Dogood essays to his publication of Poor Richard Improved in 1757. The author implicitly claims that Franklin's character and career was completely formed by 1757. Exposition and ...