La Maniera di Farsi Ricco. Chiaramente dimostrata nella Prefazione di un Vecchio Almanacco di Pensilvania, intitolato Il Povero Riccardo, Fatto Benestante: Del Signor Beniamino Franklin Americano.
In Vicenza: per Francesco Vendramini Mosca, 1778. Item #984 La Maniera di Farsi Ricco first appeared in a Milanese journal entitled, Scelta di opuscolo interesante, pp. 83-105. The text was of interest to the growing middle and commercial classes that were developing under the laissez-faire economic policies of Hapsburgs in Tuscany and the House of Savoy in the Piedmont. Creating wealth for a growing number of people in Italy was less of an obstacle as the hold that the Papacy and the Spanish had on much of the country began to recede. Although slow to develop, the Italian economy began to grow again and the idea of making money and securing a better life, rekindled the enterprising spirit that much of Italy enjoyed before the domination of the country by outside forces. The growing wealthy classes in Italy in the late 18th and 19th centuries led directly to the drive for independence which resulted in unification in the 1860’s. By this time Franklin and his Way to Wealth had become an icon for the developing country and his works were printed in reprinted in numerous editions for the Italian public. The rare 1778 edition printed in Vicenza appears to be the second separate printing in Italy after an edition that appears in 1776, no place of printing is indicated. No copies of the 1778 edition have been located in U. S. libraries and only four copies in libraries in Italy. For the 1776 edition only the Yale and Biblioteca Marciana copies are listed. The Faenza edition of 1780 is cited at the Library of Congress only in the U. S. and three copies in Italy. Yale has a copy of the 1794 edition, no place of printing determined, otherwise no additional 18th century printings in Italian are located in American libraries.
8vo. 175 x 115 mm., [7 x 4 ½ inches]. [2], 3-31, [1] pp., (A-B8). Original decorative paper wrappers; a few minor holes in the wrappers, chipped at edges, otherwise very good. Later booksellers stamp in ink of Libreria Giuseppe Giomo and front blank and title-page.
Pace, Antonio, Benjamin Franklin and Italy, pp. 205-236 for a detailed account of Poor Richard in Italy; see also p. 416 no. 22 for a citation of the Scelta di opuscolo interesante, and no. 27 for a listing of the Yale copy. NUC cites the Yale copy of 1776, the Faenze copy at LC, and a 1794 edition also at Yale.
Price: $3,500.00