Poor Richard's Almanack was a yearly almanac published by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia from 1732 to 1758, under the name of 'Richard Saunders'. Besides calendars and weather forecasts, it was full of witty proverbs that are still quoted.
An almanac
Almanacs were among the most widely read publications in colonial America, giving the calendar, the phases of the moon, tides, weather predictions and astronomical information. Franklin published the first Poor Richard for the year 1733.
It sold about ten thousand copies a year, a very large number for the colonies, and contributed to Franklin's fortune.
Poor Richard
The supposed author, Richard Saunders, is a poor, henpecked astrologer, always short of money. In the first issue he predicted the death of a rival almanac maker, Titan Leeds, and kept insisting in later years that Leeds was dead.
Franklin filled the margins with maxims on thrift, hard work and prudence, many adapted from older collections of proverbs, which he sharpened and made memorable.
The Way to Wealth
For the 1758 issue, Franklin gathered the best sayings into a speech by an old man, Father Abraham, at an auction. This text, later published as The Way to Wealth, was reprinted hundreds of times and translated into many languages.
Franklin sold the almanac in 1758, but Poor Richard's maxims became part of the American language.
Anecdotes
A rival declared dead
Franklin's Poor Richard announced the coming death of Titan Leeds, author of a rival almanac, for 17 October 1733. When Leeds protested that he was alive, Poor Richard replied that a living man could not be so rude, so he must indeed be dead.
The Way to Wealth in French
Franklin's collection of maxims was translated into French as La Science du Bonhomme Richard in 1777, and was one of the most read books in France during Franklin's years in Paris.
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote Poor Richard's Almanack?
Benjamin Franklin, under the pen name Richard Saunders.
When was it published?
Every year from the almanac for 1733, published in December 1732, until 1758.
What is The Way to Wealth?
A collection of Poor Richard's sayings on thrift and work, presented as a speech, in the almanac for 1758.