In 1771, at the age of 65, Benjamin Franklin sat down to write his autobiography, "having emerged from the poverty and obscurity in which I was born and bred to a state of affluence and some degree of reputation in the world, and having gone so far through life with a considerable share of felicity." The result is a classic of American literature.On the eve of the tercentenary of Franklin's birth, the university he founded has selected the Autobiography for the Penn Reading Project. Each year, for the past fifteen years, the University of Pennsylvania has chosen a single work that the entire incoming class, and a large segment of the faculty and staff, read and discuss together. For this occasion the University of Pennsylvania Press has published a special edition of Franklin's Autobiography, including a new preface by University president Amy Gutmann and an introduction by distinguished scholar Peter Conn. The volume also includes four short essays by noted Penn professors as well as a chronology of Franklin's life and the text of Franklin's Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania, a document resulting in the establishment of an institution of higher education that ultimately became the University of Pennsylvania.

Preface: The Power of Values, by Amy GutmannIntroduction: Benjamin Franklin and the American Imagination, by Peter ConnPART I. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHYThe Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, edited by Nathan G. GoodmanPART II. CRITICAL ESSAYSBenjamin Franklin and the American Enlightenment, by Richard R. BeemanFreedom of Reason, by Paul GuyerAn Inclination Joined with an Ability to Serve, by Michael ZuckermanThe Key to Electricity, by Michael WeisbergAPPENDICESProposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania, by Benjamin FranklinA Chronology of Franklin's Life, compiled by Mark Frazier LloydContributors