The Way to Wealth Editions project is directed by Professor Sophus A. Reinert (Harvard Business School) and based on a bibliography of Benjamin Franklin's Way to Wealth compiled by Kenneth E. Carpenter. It seeks to provide students and scholars with an array of unique research tools and contextual essays for understanding the influence and impact of Franklin's seminal essay on work ethic and frugality. The site features a searchable, and growing database of 1000+ editions of The Way to Wealth, special full-text editions to analyze and compare, timeline-maps that illustrate the work's publication history and geographic influence, and a series of interactive essays providing researchers with new insights into the work and its author. Additional details regarding the editions database can be found under the "Bibliography" section below. We continue to develop and refine this core feature of the site.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Preface and Guide to the Bibliography
Works Consulted
Arrangement and Numbering of Entries
Acknowledgements

CITATIONS

The following citation guidelines may be useful for researchers interested in referencing the site and its various components.

Way to Wealth Editions Project Website
The Way to Wealth Editions Project (website). Knowledge and Library Services, Harvard Business School.
[Date accessed]. https://www.library.hbs.edu/way-to-wealth

Way to Wealth Editions Project Bibliography
Carpenter, Kenneth E. The Way to Wealth Editions Project (bibliography of editions). Knowledge and Library Services, Harvard Business School.
[Date accessed]. https://www.library.hbs.edu/way-to-wealth/Editions

Way to Wealth Editions Project Database
The Way to Wealth Editions Project (database of editions). Knowledge and Library Services, Harvard Business School.
[Date accessed]. https://www.library.hbs.edu/way-to-wealth/Editions

CREDITS

The Way to Wealth website was developed by Knowledge and Library Services, Harvard Business School. The database is based on a bibliography of pre-1851 appearances of Benjamin Franklin's The Way to Wealth, in multiple languages written by Kenneth E. Carpenter. Professor Sophus Reinert sponsored the website development as part of his research program. Michael Hemment led a diverse team of subject and technical experts to develop the interactive tools and website.

Homepage image: Franklin in London, 1767, painted by David Martin on December 31, 1766. Currently on display at the White House.

How Ben Franklin’s ‘Way to Wealth’ Introduced American Capitalism to the World

In a recent HBS Working Knowledge article, Professor Sophus Reinert and colleagues dig into the lasting power of Franklin’s treatise on industry and frugality and its influence on capitalism.

2015 Primary Source Award

The Way to Wealth Editions project has been honored with the Center for Research Libraries’ 2015 Primary Source Award! The award recognizes innovative uses of primary source materials by faculty, librarians and library staff, students, and other researchers in the CRL community. Learn more.

AHR Article

The 2015 February edition of the American Historical Review features an article by Professsor Sophus Reinert entitled "The Way to Wealth around the World: Benjamin Franklin and the Globalization of American Capitalism." In the article, Professor Reinert recognizes, among other contributors, the Way to Wealth Editions project:

The bibliography of Benjamin Franklin's Way to Wealth that informs this essay was compiled by my former research associate Kenneth E. Carpenter, who additionally has long been a close friend and colleague. I would further like to thank my research director, Cynthia Montgomery, for her unparalleled support, and Debra Wallace and Harvard Business School's Knowledge and Information Services for helping bring the project into the twenty-first century. Michael Hemment masterfully created the affiliated website, http://waytowealth.org/