Benjamin Franklin’s ‘The Way to Wealth’ in Italy, between the Ancien Régime and Revolution (1775-1801)

Résumé

This article focuses on the political dimension of the Italian translations of Benjamin Franklin’s The Way of Wealth. This popular pamphlet, an 18th-century bestseller, played a central role in the dissemination of the American myth as a model of moral, political, and economic regeneration. Its popularity crucially contributed to making Franklin the very symbol – in some ways the personification – of the American Revolution. The aim is not only to trace a history of the circulation of the text and study its reception in Italian context, but also to interpret these translations as a more complex workshop of ideas. Translators, publishers, and printers made certain changes to Franklin’s work with the aim of influencing its reception, as well as of meeting the expectations of the Italian public and making the text better reflect the ideals they sought to promote. Initially, the Italian editions of the work provided an opportunity to reflect on the events that had led to the birth of the United States, following the link that had progressively been established between Franklin and the American Republic. The French Revolution contributed to a greater politicisation of the pamphlet, without, however, clearly affecting the Italian reception of Poor Richard’s Almanack. With the start of the Revolutionary Triennium (1796-1799) and the overthrow of the Ancien Régime in Italy, translations of the pamphlet took on a different political significance. They brought into focus the social and political project underlying The Way to Wealth, which was interpreted and represented as a model of civic virtue, centred on the values of moderation and industriousness, to be placed at the basis of the new democratic-republican societies.