The writer’s retained draft of the final episode in a saga of an unpaid bookseller’s bill, which lasted half a century, involved Benjamin Franklin directly, and outlived not only creditor and debtor but the Province of Pennsylvania itself.
Read, known familiarly as Jimmy or Jemmy, cousin of Benjamin Franklin, lawyer and one-time bookseller: his shop was immediately next door to that of Benjamin Franklin. As a young man of a prominent family Read came to London in 1739, partly to continue legal studies. When in London he befriended the botanist Peter Collinson, the evangelist Charles Wesley, and William Strahan, the young and ambitious Scottish publisher who had recently set up business in London. The two ambitious young men got on well, and appeared set for a mutually beneficial friendship: the well-connected Philadelphia bookseller needed stock, and the ambitious Strahan needed export markets. A certain amount of business took place between them, but the more momentous event was the introduction between Strahan and Franklin that Read made in 1744, which itself was in order to introduce Strahan’s young employee David Hall, who wished to make his fortune in the Colonies. The introduction was successful, and Hall became a partner of Franklin, later succeeding to part of his business. Franklin and Strahan maintained a friendship and business relationship for the rest of their lives, which just survived the War of Independence: Franklin’s letter ending their friendship is a celebratedly eloquent rejection of the colonial master, and the fact that he never sent it is an equally celebrated example of Franklin’s restraint and amiability.
At the time of the introduction Read’s business was suffering in the shadow of Franklin’s. In an attempt to re-energise the business, in 1745 Read made a substantial order from Strahan, for a total invoice value of £132,3s,1d but never paid it. The dogged Strahan never abandoned the debt. He realised early on that he might have to go to law to get paid, and in 1748 Franklin agreed to accept his power of attorney to claim the debt: it was an obvious choice, but Franklin was possessed of a natural kindness, telling Strahan that “If the debt were to me, I could not sue him”. Although Franklin eloquently pressed Read, “The most friendly Advice I can give you, is, to begin paying the Debt immediately”, he never went to law with him.
By 1752 Read had abandoned the shop and was living in the pioneer town of Reading, Pa. where he had the position of “prothonotary”, or state lawyer. Although still buying books and indeed building a new library for them “where I propose to be every morning in the year at five o’clock and there remain till noon, unless called to my office or breakfast, endeavouring to improve my understanding and subdue my passions and appetites to reason and religion.” He was also creating a garden under the tutelage and with the seeds of Peter Collinson, but was still no closer to discharging the debt with Strahan. In short, he was prospering fairly well, while wrestling inwardly with a weakness for strong drink, but for whatever quirk of personality, settling this particular obligation was not a priority for him.
The French and Indian Wars of 1754 to 1766 for a while not only jeopardised the entire future of the town of Reading, but would have provided an external justification for doing nothing about the debt. Come the 1770s Strahan was doing very well financially, had been appointed Printer to the King, was proprietor of a thriving newspaper and was in the middle of his famous friendship with Dr. Johnson. However he was still not ready to abandon this (relatively modest) debt, and engaged the Quaker Thomas Wharton of Philadelphia with instructions for “renewed and vigorous action” which succeeded to an extent, in getting £60 out of Read. The progress of the bill was to be held up yet again by the unpleasantnesses of the War of Independence (apart from the death of his wife in 1775 Read personally had a fairly “Good War”, back in Philadelphia).
In 1785 Read wrote the current letter, and sent it with one written a few weeks earlier, which had missed the Packet. The earlier letter is known from its retained copy, which in the 1930s was in the possession of J. Bennett Nolan, Pennsylvania historian, and triggered his writing of the lively and engaging account of the saga in Printer Strahan’s Book Account: a Colonial Controversy. Reading, Pa. 1939. The present letter was unknown to him, and is responsible for his misapprehension that the original letter was sent twice. Both letters with their tone of “indefinite evasion” (Nolan) must have been very vexing to Strahan, for Read makes no clear undertaking to pay the outstanding amount, nor anything like an apology for the affair, while weaselling on about how he still has high hopes of being able to pay the debt, and how his son is working hard to raise money to do it.
The footnote must have been particularly unsatisfactory, which treats the affair as some sort of deus ex machina “Philadelphia March 26 1785, this selfsame day 44 years since our friendship began. What Pity it has ever been tarnished.”
Strahan died in July 1785, and presumably would have received both letters, but nothing is known of his response.
