Patriot-Improvers Biographical Sketches of Members of the American Philosophical Society

When Benjamin Franklin adopted John Bartram's 1739 idea of bringing together the "virtuosi" of the colonies to promote inquiries into "natural secrets, arts & syances," the result was, in 1743, the founding of the American Philosophical Society. Whitfield J. Bell, Jr. records the early years of the Society through sketches of its first members, those elected between 1743 & 1769. Volume 1 includes biographies of some of the Society's best known members such as Franklin, David Rittenhouse, John Bartram, Benjamin Rush, John Dickinson, Thomas Hopkinson & many lesser known merchants, artisans, farmers, physicians, lawyers & clergymen with familiar surnames such as Biddle, Colden, & Morris. A history of this earliest society & its offshoots before 1769, the Young Junto & the American Society for Promoting & Propagating Useful Knowledge, are also included. These sketches, written over several decades, represent in Whitfield J. Bell's words, "the first systematic attempt to collect & preserve data on the lives of [the Society's first] members" & add much to our knowledge of the history & culture of eighteenth-century America.Bell, Whitfield J., Jr. is the author of 'Patriot-Improvers Biographical Sketches of Members of the American Philosophical Society' with ISBN 9780871692276 and ISBN 0871692279.