Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

Lot 2015

FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN. 1706-1790.
CHAMBERLIN, MASON, artist.
B. Franklin of Philadelphia L.L.D., F.R.S. [London]: Chamberlin, [after 1762].

12 March 2019, 14:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$3,570 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Books & Manuscripts specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN. 1706-1790.

CHAMBERLIN, MASON, artist. B. Franklin of Philadelphia L.L.D., F.R.S. [London]: Chamberlin, [after 1762].
Mezzotint on paper, 377 x 275 mm, engraved by Edward Fisher, matted and framed, trimmed close to plate marks, small stain below subject's knee.

A dramatic and nuanced mezzotint 3/4 portrait of Franklin sitting at his desk with quill in one hand and a manuscript on the desk in the other as he gazes to the left. A curtain is pulled back to the right showing lightning striking damage into a nearby house while a closer building equipped with a lightening rod avoids harm. To the left, an electrical device consisting of two bells and with two cork balls hanging from silk threads attached to one of the bells. Chamberlin's portrait was Franklin's favorite and he had a copy made for his son.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

Signed to Spencer Tracy 1952 Hemingway, Ernest. 1899-1961. The Old Man and the Sea, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952.

A Presentation Copy of Kennedy's First Book to Spencer Tracy. Kennedy, John F. 1917-1963. Why England Slept. New York: Wilfred Funk, Inc., 1940.

ADVERTISING POSTERfor 'The Suffragette' newspaper, [c.1913-1914]

ILLUMINATED ADDRESS – CLARA CODD Illuminated printed address signed by Emmeline Pankhurst, [1909]

MUSIC & RECORDINGS – ETHEL SMYTH Collection of printed music, song sheets and records, [c.1911-1912]