"16. Paris, chez Quillau , Esprit, et l'Auteur, 1773, 2 parts bound in 1 volume, in-4°, 26 cm x 20 cm, (4) nn pp + xxii pp + (2)(errata) + 338 pp + 5 engraved plates ; (4)nn pp + xiii + (2)(errata) + (1)(bl) + 318 pp +(2)(approbation) + 7 engraved plates. Complete but for the frontispiece portrait of Franklin. (Lacks the portrait, exemplaire complet mais sans le portrait de Franklin). Bound in contemporary half leather, boards covered with grey paper, joints partly broken but still holding, leather at headcaps damaged and partly missing. Ex-library copy with a small private stamp on the title, interior with some slight foxing but in all still an acceptable copy of a rare book. This is the first major edition in French of Franklin's work, the result of a long correspondence between the translator and the author . The first part is entirely devoted to his work on electricity and contains also texts which were not previously published in English. The second part contains papers on a variety of subjects and also some texts which never appeared in English editions ; notably his thoughts on colonial matters."