Benjamin Franklin's life-story is legendary. The youngest son and fifteenth child of a Boston tallow chandler and soap boiler, he received only two years' formal education before being apprenticed to his brother, a local printer. But by the time of his death he was world-famous for his accomplishments. A writer of wit, grace and intelligence, he crafted a series of complex and distinct literary voices. An experimental scientist, he conducted original research on electricity, was elected to the Royal Society, and founded the first scientific society in North America. A practical engineer, he invented the lightning rod, bifocal glasses, and the first truly efficient wood-burning stove. A born improver, he fathered the first subscription library, the first volunteer fire department, and the first charity hospital. A political leader in colonial Pennsylvania and revolutionary America, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence, represented the United States in negotiations with France and Great Britain, and participated in the Constitutional Convention.

Franklin's political writings reflect his engagement with this wider world. He was not an abstract or systematic thinker. At no point did he articulate a developed conception of justice, or defend a theory of human nature. And yet The Papers of Benjamin Franklin – now in its thirty-seventh volume, with nearly a decade of his life still to be covered – reveals a mind of extraordinary critical intelligence. By trade a printer, Franklin actively participated in the public sphere of news and communication.