Mon Cher Papa: Franklin and the Ladies of Paris

In this delightful account of the personal side of Benjamin Franklin's eight years in Paris, Mrs. Lopez shows Franklin winning France to the side of the American Revolution by captivating all her citizens, particularly the ladies of Paris. From Madame Brillon to the intellectual elite at Auteuil, Franklin charmed them all. But it was Madame Helvetius who charmed him: she was the only woman in Paris Franklin really loved, the woman he wanted to marry, the woman who turned him down. And it was of her salon that Franklin dreamed nostalgically when he was back in Philadelphia. Drawing on many unpublished documents, Mrs. Lopez displays the idolized Franklin enjoying Parisian life with his customary zest, helping to launch the potato, investigating Mesmer's doctrines, and protecting the city with lightning rods.

Mrs. Lopez is assistant editor in charge of French material for the Papers of Benjamin Franklin at Yale University.