Benjamin Franklin’s Book, in Defense of Cougars, 1745

Dr. B. sends me a photograph of a little book by Benjamin Franklin titled The Old Mistresses’ Apologue, a 1956 printing of a letter Franklin wrote in 1745. I see two levels of value to Dr. B’s book. One is the value of what Franklin wrote, and why nobody published it until the mid 20th century, and the dollar value of this particular little book. Let’s deal with the contents of the book printed 181 years after Franklin wrote this infamous letter.

The book, originally a letter to a young male friend of Franklin’s, and may have been prompted by the young man’s question, “Shall I take a young mistress —or an older mistress?”

The book begins by supporting the institution of marriage. Ben knew marriage well. He was married to his wife Deborah for 44 years until her death in 1774. Although, Ben launched into the reasons this young man should take a “cougar” as a mistress, and forget about young mistresses forever.

Franklin elaborates on the Paradox of older females as lovers as opposed to young ones.

“in all your amours you should prefer old women to young ones. You call this a paradox, and demand my reasons. They are these:” (and I paraphrase here):

1. they know more
2. when they lose their looks, they endeavor to be kind
3. because there is no hazard of children
4. an older woman will not spread the affair around town
5. in the dark all cats are grey (he really wrote that!)
6. because the sin is less, since she is not a virgin
7. because you won’t run the risk of falling in love
8. and, he writes, “eightly, and lastly, they are so grateful!!”

This letter was not published until 1926 when Phillip S. Russell printed it in his biography of Franklin. Simon and Schuster bestowed complete respectability on the letter when they included it in their Treasury of the World’s Great Letters in 1940, delivered as a dividend to members of the Book-of-the-Month Club.

Henry Stevens held Franklin’s personal archive until 1882 when the State Department purchased the lot, not including this letter. Stevens possessed the good taste to hold it back. His widow left it to the Chicago Historical Society, who didn’t like it either. The Society sold the only two drafts of the letter to the Phillip H. and ASW Rosenbach Foundation, who exhibited the originals with other Frankliniana at Philadelphia’s Free Library in 1938. They  considered the letters too risqué to show in any form but the handwritten version from Franklin’s own quill.

The witty Mr. Franklin also a rake?

Some material proof of this exists. Although his wife gave him three legitimate children, he fathered a child out of wedlock. Due to the kindness of his wife, they raised the child in Franklin’s home.

Further evidence of rake-ness exists. In Road to Revolution: Benjamin Franklin in England 1764-7, Cecil B. Currey describes Franklin’s friendship with Sir Francis Dashwood (Lord Le Despencer), Postmaster of England at the time Franklin served as Postmaster of the Colonies. Despencer owned an influential (and kinky) gentleman’s club called Medmenham Monks, or, the Hellfire Club, in 18th century Buckinghamshire. He redesigned an old Cistercian Abbey from its original 1145 state into a garden of lust. The secret society comprised powerful men, picked by Despencer, and he picked Franklin, among 70 or so others. The men, called “monks,” invited women, called “nuns,” on an ad hoc basis. The old monastery, designed with the theme of sexuality, featured pornographic statues and inscriptions, and paintings from indecent ancient Roman style frescoes and portraits of famous historical courtesans. Franklin became a member after 1765, where he mingled with other monks and nuns in a huge and elaborately decorated cave, hence the name Hellfire Club.

Currey quotes Franklin writing about this Hillfire Club, the design is “whimsical and puzzling in its imagery, (and this) is as evident below the earth as above it.” Franklin writes that he met such prominent ‘nuns’ as Lady Mary Wortley Montague there, as well as such prominent ‘monks’ as Frederick, Prince of Wales. Sounds like something straight out of the Black Mass depicted in the movie Eyes Wide Shut.

Now to the value of Dr. B’s little book.

Only 2,000 such books as Dr. B’s were printed because of the scandalous nature of Franklin’s letter. Many “unauthorized” printings happened over the years. So Dr. B’s book in perfect condition is worth only $40. But the suggestion to take an older mistress, in the mind of this older appraiser, is 100% gold.