Benj. Fanklin on Perfumes

It is amazing how often I come across seemingly forgotten books and a google search fails to return any valuable information. Such was the case when today I was book browsing between nursing a hangover and completing my philosophy assignment and I stumbled upon a thin volume which was labeled on the spine "Benj. Fanklin of Perfumes." I did a quick google search on my iPhone to see if I could figure out what it was since the last page said "One thousand copies printed. Nine hundred seventy five are for sale. Made at the sign of the Blue-Behinded Ape, Mcmxxix." All in all a curious way to end a book that totaled no more than 20 pages. I bought it (for $1) in spite of the lack of available information and it took me all of 10 minutes to read it, twice.

The contents of Dr. Franklin's Letter to the Royal Academy of Brussels are fairly well know as of 1990 or so when the collection of his works "Fart Proudly" were released, however, my little volume published the entirety of Franklin's letter about farting in 1929, apparently the first to do so. It is a funny little "book" that shows Franklin's humorous side as he is trying to convince the Royal Academy of Brussels to begin experimenting on how to make farts smell better, for the benefit of all people. The letter was supposedly in response to a call by the government for scientific papers, but Franklin thought European academics were pretentious and impractical and sent what he thought was a fitting alternative. Interesting that one of the most brilliant minds of American history should be so concerned with farting, but luckily his satirical tone is not lost on a more contemporary audience.

I laughed out loud on reading this letter, which I don't often do, as I was quite entertained not only my Franklin's subject and writing style but also by the introduction written by the "Blue-Behinded Ape." Of who or what this is, I am not sure, other than to surmise it was a publisher of more humorous or satirical works of at least the 1920s and 1930s. My edition was published in 1929 and remains in remarkably good shape. I am sure it will be an interesting conversation starter at some point in the future.