History's Best Memoirs,
Written in a Modern Voice
The memoirs and biographies of history's greatest inventors, adventurers, and entrepreneurs,
without the bad photocopies and old-fashioned language.
Many of history's greatest life stories are...
Out of print, expensive, and hard to find
Poor quality photocopies
Written in old-fashioned language
Franklin & Hall unlocks rare memoirs for a modern audience.
We carefully clean and analyze the original text.
Then, we rewrite it using modern language, making it more accessible and engaging for today's readers – without changing the truth of the original.
Modern Text
Original Text
When Matthew Boulton entered into partnership with James Watt, he gave up the ormolu business in which he had before been principally engaged. He had been accustomed to supply George III with articles of this manufacture, but ceased to wait upon the King for orders after embarking in his new enterprise.
Some time after, he appeared at the Royal Levee and was at once recognised by the King.
"Ha! Boulton," said he, "it is long since we have seen you at Court. Pray, what business are you now engaged in?" "I am engaged, your Majesty, in the production of a commodity which is the desire of kings." "And what is that? what is that?" asked the King.
"Power, your Majesty," replied Boulton, who proceeded to give a description of the great uses to which the steam-engine was capable of being applied.
Matthew Boulton gave up his luxury metalwork business when he partnered with James Watt. He had previously supplied King George III with decorative pieces, but stopped visiting the palace for orders after starting his new venture.
Later, at a royal reception, the King immediately recognized him.
"Boulton! We haven't seen you at court in ages. What business are you in these days?" the King asked. "Your Majesty, I now produce something that every king desires," Boulton replied. "What's that? What is it?" the King pressed.
"Power, your Majesty," said Boulton, before explaining how the steam engine could transform the world.
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The Engineer-Industrialists
Our launch collection features the lives of four of history's greatest engineers turned entrepreneurs.
The Lives of Boulton and Watt
by Samuel Smiles (1865)
In 1775, an English manufacturer and a Scottish engineer forged one of the most important collaborations of the Industrial Revolution. Matthew Boulton and James Watt revolutionized steam power – transforming manufacturing, trade, and even war.
Backed by a courageous female banker, Charlotte Matthews, they combined Boulton's manufacturing expertise with Watt's engineering genius to create a company that helped power Britain's industrial transformation.
Boulton and Watt's legacy trained generations of notable engineers as their partnership changed the course of industrial civilization.
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Modernized
Memoir of Sir Marc Isambard Brunel
by Richard Beamish (1862)
The little-known story of a French-born engineering genius who fled revolution to become one of Britain's most innovative builders of the Industrial Age, Marc Isambard Brunel transformed 19th-century engineering through his remarkable inventions and ambitious projects.
From automating the Royal Navy's pulley production to constructing the revolutionary Thames Tunnel – the world's first tunnel under a navigable river — Brunel's creative mind knew no bounds. Though he faced financial ruin and even imprisonment along the way, his pioneering spirit and relentless determination helped lay the foundations of modern civil engineering.
But his greatest legacy may have been his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who would go on to become Britain's most celebrated engineer.
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Modernized
The Life of Peter Cooper
by Rossiter W. Raymond (1901)
From humble beginnings as a tinkerer and craftsman in early 19th century New York, Peter Cooper (1791-1883) built an extraordinary legacy as an inventor, industrialist, and philanthropist who shaped American industry and education.
Starting with a $2,000 investment in a glue factory, Cooper parlayed his mechanical genius and business acumen into successful ventures like the Canton Iron Works – where he built America's first steam locomotive, the Tom Thumb.
His crowning achievement was founding Cooper Union in 1859, a free educational institution offering night classes to working men and women, with the radical policy of admitting students regardless of race, religion, or sex. The institute embodied his belief that education should be "free as air and water."
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About Us
Zach Caceres
A non-fiction lover with a personal library in the thousands, Zach founded Franklin & Hall after finding hundreds of memoirs with incredible stories that were inaccessible to modern readers.
The name Frankin & Hall comes from Benjamin Franklin's printing house with his business partner David Hall. Franklin & Hall had a reputation for honesty, quality, and innovation in publishing during America's revolutionary period.