Jay Snider's Benjamin Franklin Collection to Auction at Sotheby's

Sotheby's New York will auction over 150 items from Jay Snider's collection of Benjamin Franklin memorabilia on June 24. The collection spans books, broadsides, letters, and manuscripts, tracing Franklin's career from government printer to diplomat. Highlights include a June 10, 1758 letter to Joseph Galloway ($70,000–$100,000), a 1778 letter from George Washington introducing Marquis de Lafayette (sold for over $1 million in January), and three parts of Franklin's electrical writings bound together ($75,000–$125,000). A selection of 40 artifacts will be displayed at the Library Company of Philadelphia from May 5 to 7. The full catalogue is estimated at $3 million to $4.5 million. Snider, former president of Philadelphia's NHL team, spent 46 years collecting Franklin-related works. The collection also includes 350 promissory notes showing Franklin's role in founding Pennsylvania Hospital, and over 150 letters to Mary "Polly" Stevenson ($2,000–$50,000 each).