Benjamin Franklin’s Legacy in London

Celebrating his 300th anniversary of mastering the art of printing

Demonstration of the first printing press being used — Credit: Author

Introduction

One of the Founding Fathers of the United States was Benjamin Franklin, who put his signature on the Declaration of Independence. But did you know that long before he became a statesman, he came to London to further his training as a master printer?

To mark the 300th anniversary of his time in London to became a ‘journeyman printer’ (someone, who had completed his apprenticeship to become a master printer and then could ), a full-size working replica of the Franklin printing press was made available to visitors.

And we were among those visitors to witness the anniversary!

What you see in the main picture is the replica printing press being operated by someone dressed in the same clothes a man in the early 1700s would have worn.

Furthermore, it stands on the exact spot where Benjamin Franklin would have used the original printing press and mastered the art of printing.

Yes, it was in 1725, exactly 300 years ago, that he came to London to master this specialist skill. Who knew?