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Primary sourceBook1778

Recueil des loix constitutives des colonies angloises

United States of America · 1778

A 1778 French translation of American state constitutions, annotated by Franklin and dedicated to him during his Paris mission.

Franklin annotated this French translation of American constitutions and received its dedication during his diplomatic mission in Paris.

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Front cover of a dark red leather-bound book with gold tooled decorative rules along the edges and spine, showing mottled marbled wear and no visible title text.
Recueil des loix constitutives des colonies angloises, 1778. Dedicated to Benjamin Franklin.

About this source

What it is

This is a 1778 book collecting French translations of the constitutions of the American states, along with the Declaration of Independence and other acts of Congress. It was translated by Louis-Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld d'Anville and annotated by Benjamin Franklin, and it was dedicated to him. The surviving copy has a plain dark red leather binding with gold-tooled decoration.

Why it matters

Published while Franklin served as American representative in Paris, this book helped introduce French readers to the new republican ideas and governing documents of the United States. Franklin's role in annotating and receiving the dedication of the book shows his influence in shaping how Europe understood the American experiment in self-government.

Look closer

  • Why might French readers in the 1770s have been interested in American constitutions?
  • What does it mean that this book was dedicated to Franklin specifically?
  • What might annotations by Franklin have added that a plain translation would lack?

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