Printed by Benjamin Franklin, 1742 [but 1743]

FRANKLIN, Benjamin (1706-1790) – The Charters of the Province of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia [With:] A Collection of all the Laws of the Province of Philadelphia [And:] An Appendix. Philadelphia: Benjamin Franklin, 1742 [but 1743].

First edition of an important Franklin printing of the laws of colonial Pennsylvania. "It was the omission of certain laws relating to property that prompted the Assembly to ask their Speaker to make 'a proper enquiry into the present State of the Laws of this Province' in May, 1737, near the conclusion of Franklin's first year as the newly elected clerk. On Jan. 12, 1739-40, the Assembly requested the Speaker—and Attorney General of the Province—John Kinsey, Esq. to begin a revision of the whole body of laws" (Miller). This new edition was authorized in 1741, and Franklin finished the presswork in 1743, a year after the date in the imprint. Miller 288.

Three parts in one, folio (288 x 177mm). (A little toning and spotting, last leaf of second part a bit soiled.) 19th-century blind-tooled calf (neatly rebacked, endpapers renewed, worn). Provenance: Andrew Hamilton (signature on title dated 1746) – Thomas Cumpston (signature on title).