A History of the University of Pennsylvania from Its Foundation to A. D. 1770/Chapter 12
But in the midst of these material preparations for the accommodation of the future scholars, the mental provision for them was well undertaken. At the meeting of 29 March it was voted "that a sum not exceeding one hundred pounds sterling be paid by the Treasurer to the said Committee [Messrs Franklin, Allen, Coleman, Peters, Hopkinson and Francis] to be disposed of in Latin and Greek Authors, Maps, Drafts and Instruments for the use of the Academy;" which the Journal tells us was forwarded in a bill of Robert and Amos Strettell's for one hundred pounds sterling, which cost the Trustees at the current exchange £173.10, to Mr. Peter Collinson in London for his purchase of the required articles. It was through Mr. Collinson's friendly agency in January following that they bought "a parcel of Latin and Greek books of John Whiston, Bookseller, £30.11; prints bought of Bowles 59/, and Instruments bought of Adams £4.14, and Mathematical instruments bought of John Moyan £33.12/6," which with shipping, insurance, and current rate of exchange cost them £138.3.10. On the margin of this last entry, Franklin has himself made a note describing some of the items in the bills, "Bowning's Phil° 15/, Philipps Langu 5/, Map of the World 9/, Rectifer 3/6."[1] Of Mr. Collinson, Franklin wrote to Jared Eliot, 12 September, 1751,[2] in answer to inquiries about him:
the Collinson you mention is the same gentleman I correspond with. He is a most benevolent, worthy man, very curious in botany and other branches of natural history, and fond of improvements in agriculture, &c. He will be pleased with your acquaintance. In the late Philosophical Transactions, you may see frequently papers of his, or letters that were directed to him, on various subjects. He is a member of the Royal Society.
Franklin's correspondence with this gentleman in his Electrical experiments has been referred to on a previous page; his letter to Mr. Michael Collinson giving some biographical facts respecting himself is found in Sparks' Franklin, vii. 426, and contains the sentence: "The characters of good men are exemplary, and often stimulate the well disposed to an imitation, beneficial to mankind and honourable to themselves."
We are not told the places of meeting of the Trustees, except those of the 1st and 2nd February, which were held at Roberts's Coffee House. The subsequent meetings doubtless were held in one of the apartments of the New Building, other than those which were undergoing alteration and change.