Printed Page Bookshop
February 2025


The little known bookselling life of Benjamin Franklin
Pretty much every American with any education knows that Benjamin Franklin was a scientist, an inventor, a diplomat, a father of our country, and the model for $100 bills.  But far fewer know that he was the first American to print a novel.  (Of course, he began his career as a printer, and he even printed money, though not with his image on it.)  The novel was titled "Pamela," written by Samual Richardson, It was long and expensive to produce -- factory-made paper hadn't come along yet -- and Franklin printed it in 1742.  Mostly, colonists didn't want to read novels, and it would be decades before another unabridged novel was printed in America. The printing product Franklin is most remembered for is his flimsy, transient almanacs.  
But as Evan Friss wrote in "The Bookshop," "Franklin was also a bookseller -- and one of the first, if not the first in colonial America.  He sold schoolbooks, religious texts and books and pamphlets on a wide range of subjects to colonial outposts near and far from his home in Philadelphia.  He was a shopkeeper who sold books; he didn't have a 'bookstore' -- the word 'bookstore' didn't yet exist.  
"While Franklin is most famous for his roles as a statesman, diplomat, and inventor, his experience in the book trade was a formative one.  For the rest of his life, he self-identfied as a printer.  He understood that we are what we read  And that what we read is dictated by what authors choose to write, what publishers choose to publish, what printers choose to print, and what, where, and how booksellers choose to sell.
"Franklin lived for the better part of the eighteenth century.  Over the course of his life, colonists became more literate, more cultured, and, ultimately, more American.  Books were partly responsible.  So was Benjamin Franklin."

Meet Chris Harned
Chris is our new partner at Printed Page, but not new to the store.  Chris has been a bookseller for the past five years following a 25-year stint as a middle and high school teacher in the Denver Public Schools, most recently at  East High School.  In his five years at the store, Chris has learned a lot about books and the book business, highlighted by his attendance at the Colorado Antiqurian Book School last summer.
Chris has been an avid reader all his life, mostly reading general fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, mysteries, thrillers, and slice-of-life small-town America books.  A believer in the power of stories,  Chris is firmly in the fiction camp and specializes in literary, comtemporary, and science fiction as a bookseller.
Chris's books are under the umbrella of "Curmudgeon Books," and as visitors see that nomenclature on Chris's shelves, they often ask if the books there are all about curmudgeons.  We cheerfully tell them not to ask such foolish questions.  



This Month's Puzzler

On July 1, 1804, this famous female writer was born as Aurore Dupin in Paris. Born into an aristocratic French family descended from Polish royalty, she was only four when her father—an officer in Napoleon’s army—died after falling from a horse. After his death, she was raised by her paternal grandmother in the village of Nohant in central France (now a major tourist attraction).

As a child, young Aurore displayed such an unusual interest in boyish things that her grandmother agreed to let her wear boy’s clothing and engage in activities traditionally off-limits to girls—and thus were sowed the seeds of her lifelong fascination with androgyny.
Only 17 when her grandmother died in 1821, she wedded an aristocratic suitor the following year. It turned out to be a deeply unfulfilling marriage, though, and after ten unhappy years, she moved to Paris to embark on a literary career.

Shortly after arriving in Paris in 1831, she adopted a masculine nom de plume and experienced immediate success with steamy and sensational novels that featured strong female heroines who were fighting to expand the severely limited roles available to 19th-century women.


She went on to become one of history’s most famous novelists—and one of the most prolific. When she died at age 71 in 1876, she had produced a staggering body of work: over 70 novels, 24 plays, hundreds of short stories and essays, a similar number of poems, a remarkable memoir, and thousands of letters to some of the most famous individuals of the era. As popular in France as Charles Dickens was in England, she was greatly admired by such literary luminaries as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Walt Whitman, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

While few modern readers can cite the titles of any of her literary works, almost everyone is familiar with her audacious—some would say scandalous—lifestyle. In addition to her pen name, she dressed in male attire, smoked cigars, took male as well as female lovers, and could dominate a social setting in a manner that would make the most ambitious male politician envious. Her many lovers included some of the most famous figures of the era, including Chopin, Balzac, Flaubert, and the poet Alfred de Musset.

Who is this person? (Answer below)

If you're a book collector under 30, the Kirkpatrick Prize awaits
Book collecting isn't just for the wealthy and the gray-haired.  Many young people have interesting collections of their own -- some consisting of just a few well-chosen volumes.  The Taylor C. Kirkpatrick Prize for Young Book Collectors recognizes those young collectors' accomplishments and rewards them with a $1000 prize.  And entries are now being accepted.
Taylor Kirkpatrick created the prize to acknowledge the fact that most great book collections begin when the collector is young.  (He's a living example of that!)  Now in its fifth year, earlier winners have shown creativity and focus with their collections.  And that's the key -- not how much one spends on books, but rather how one brings a personal perspective to the books they collect.  
The requirements for entry are simple.  Mostly, you have to be a Colorado resident and be under 30.  For more information, and for a submission form, go HERE.

Puzzler answer

George Sand. 1804-1876.  If you like our Puzzler, find more on our Facebook page.  
Thanks to Dr. Mardy Grothe for the use of his puzzler.  Visit him at drmardy.com.

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