Elegant extracts: or, useful and entertaining passages in prose, selected for the improvement of young persons: being similar in design to Elegant extracts in poetry.
Elegant Extracts, edited by Vicesimus Knox, was, in contrast to the Pleasing Instructor, an anthology in large format, with, in some editions, more than a thousand pages. First published in 1782, its stated goal was the “improvement of scholars at classical & other schools.” The numerous editions are very rare, which suggests that these books were heavily used. They contained The Way to Wealth, with Franklin’s name attached, and they are an added sign that English schoolchildren were very likely exposed to Franklin’s text.