Errata in Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography
December 7, 2007
Benjamin Franklin recounts in his Autobiography that he started an apprenticeship with his brother James in his brother’s printing business. When James gets in trouble with the authorities, James ends Benjamin’s apprenticeship officially (so that Benjamin may take over the newspaper legally) while drawing up secret paper which would continue his apprenticeship as it was before. Later a disagreement arises and Benjamin decides to leave his brother knowing full well that James will not bring up the secret papers for fear of incriminating himself. As Benjamin Franklin tells us, "It was not fair in me to take this Advantage, and this I therefore reckon one of the first Errata of my life". This is the first of many "errata" he recalls in this story of his life.
The word errata is the plural of erratum, a Latin word used primarily in the printing business, with which Benjamin is very familiar. Its definition is an error in printing or writing, especially such an error noted in a list of corrections and bound into a book. This is an excellent use of the word especially when considering it is within the autobiography of such a great writer and publisher. Benjamin is reflecting on his life, with and attempting to help his son learn some of the lessons that took a lifetime for Benjamin Franklin to learn. The term errata especially applies here since the errors of his life are "noted in a list of corrections at the end" in his recollection of it. This exemplifies the main purpose of his beginning his Autobiography in the first place – that he may teach others the many lessons that he has learned over the course of his eventful life by noting his errata.
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