ENGRAVED PORTRAIT OF BESPECTACLED BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN A FUR CAP. "BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. NE A BOSTON, DANS LA NOUVELLE ANGLETERRE LE 17 JANVIER 1706."
[n.p. n.d.]. 5 3/8" x 7 3/8" printed area on 9" x 11 3/4" thick paper. Oval bust portrait of Franklin wearing his spectacles, a thick fur hat and coat, his body and head turned right with his eyes facing front. Portrait surrounded by oval frame with caption directly below, within a rectangular background. "C.N. Cochin filius delin. 1777" at bottom left and "Aug. de St. Aubin Sculp." at bottom right. This is a later strike on more modern paper; it does not contain the engraving found beneath earlier editions, "Dessine par C.N. Cochin..." Very Good.
"The print is above all a news picture. Because of it, the sensational fact of Franklin's arrival in France and the sensation costume which so effectively dramatized his role as envoy from the New World to the Old reached every part of Europe, creating an image of tremendous value to Franklin's purpose. It is an accurate likeness and a perceptive characterization, but its importance and its contemporary impact is as news." [Sellers: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN PORTRAITURE, Plate 10.]
Catalogue of the Very Important Collection of Edwin Babcock Holden... 1910, restrike of 1225, 7403. Bulletin of New York Public Library, Volume X...1906, p. 63, #54. Item #34482
Price: $125.00