August 10, 2003

Benjamin Franklin's Epitaph

The body of
B. Franklin, Printer
(Like the Cover of an Old Book
Its Contents torn Out
And Stripped of its Lettering and Gilding)
Lies Here, Food for Worms.
But the Work shall not be Lost;
For it will (as he Believ’d) Appear once More
In a New and More Elegant Edition
Revised and Corrected
By the Author.


Posted by mgk at August 10, 2003 08:36 PM
Comments

And this is really on his tombstone? Cool!

Posted by: Jill at August 11, 2003 03:38 AM | Link to Comment

Actually, it's not really on the tombstone, no. He wrote it much earlier in life and I don't know the reason why it wasn't used.

Posted by: MGK at August 11, 2003 10:12 AM | Link to Comment

He wrote that epitaph when he was 22, and specified later in his will - http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/family/lastwill.html - that:

"I wish to be buried by the side of my wife, if it may be, and that a marble stone, to be made by Chambers, six feet long, four feet wide, plain, with only a small moulding round the upper edge, and this inscription:

Benjamin And Deborah Franklin 178-

to be placed over us both."

Posted by: nick at August 11, 2003 12:50 PM | Link to Comment
Due to the proliferation of comment spam, I've had to close comments on this entry. If you would like to leave comment, please send email to me at mgk =at= umd =dot= edu. Thank you.