a) A two-volume set called 'Life And Times Of Benjamin Franklin. By James Parton, Author of 'Life And Times Of Aaron Burr,' 'Life Of Andrew Jackson,' Etc. With Finely Engraved Portraits. Sold By Subscription Only. Boston: James R. Osgood And Company, Late Ticknor & Fields, And Fields, Osgood, & Co. H. A. Brown & Co., Subscription Managers, dated 1864 and the printer 'Mason Brothers' on the copyright page.Both volumes have five raised bands, gilt lettering on red labels and six compartments with gilt rules and gilt devices on the spine, a gilt-ruled border on calf bindings, marbled endpapers, all the edges are marbled, and these were issued without dust jackets. Volume I has a frontis portrait of Franklin (“Francis Folger Franklin”) as a young child and a second portrait of Franklin at twenty, with a four-page Preface and two pages of Contents, and 598 pages of text followed by several Appendices, for a total of 627 pages. Volume II has a frontis portrait of Mrs. Sarah Bache and a second portrait of Franklin (“Franklin in Paris”), two pages of Contents, 655 pages of text, followed by an Appendix and Index, for a total of 709 pages in the second volume. The books are a first edition set - they were published by James R. Osgood and have just a single date on the title pages and copyright pages, which make them first editions. (See A Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions by Bill McBride.) James Parton (1822- 1891) was an English-born biographer who moved to New York when he was five, and he was considered to be one of the most popular biographers of his day in America. He wrote books on the lives of Horace Greeley, Aaron Burr, Andrew Jackson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Voltaire, and his non-fiction combined elements of novel writing, which made his books quite popular. His books here were also considered by many to be the best biography of Franklin. “Sold by subscription only” meant Parton could know exactly how many copies would be ordered and printed and save himself and the publisher a lot of headaches - there was no guesswork involved in knowing how many copies to print. The books measure 7 7/8 x 5 5/8 in. wide, the bindings are tight and the pages are clean, except for some foxing on the tissue guards and the frontis portraits in both volumes; the underside of the pages in both volumes have light rubbing (you have to tilt the books upside down to see the rubbing), there is faded gilt on both spines, and Volume I has a small piece of calf abraded on the front cover and a few pages have brown spots in the bottom margins of the text, and there are some abraded spots on the back of Volume II, but overall a very attractive set. The two book are very rare as well - WorldCat doesn’t even list the set anywhere. They show a 1971 edition written by Parton, but none for 1864, so this is a rare first edition biography about the life of Benjamin Franklin, one of the most important political figures and statesmen the U.S. has even known. and b) The Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin And Other Selections From His Writings, Garden City Publishing Co., Inc. New York, 3/4 bound, with five raised bands, six gilt-ruled compartments with gilt lettering and gilt devices on the labels, blue endpapers, “Hepburn” inscribed on one of the blank endpapers in front - probably the owner’s name - with a frontis portrait of Franklin by David Martin (the so-called “Thumb Portrait” of Franklin), a date of 1939 on the copyright page, 274 pages of text, and the top edge is gilt. The book measures 8 1/4 x 5 7/8 in. wide and it very clean and tight, with light rubbing at the top tips. #1635#31