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I am extremely pleased to tell you that arrangements have been concluded
to make this unique collection available exclusively to
American Express Cardmembers and established Franklin Mint collectors.
With these imprimatur letters laying the groundwork, the basic selling letter from The Franklin
Library; signed by Robert Vincent O'Brien, publisher, was able to get right into the job of selling:
Dear Collector:
Soon a very limited number of people will begin to acquire a private
library of the one hundred greatest books of all time — in the most
beautiful edition ever published.
The books in this extraordinary private library have been selected by
a distinguished international board of scholars. And, as is appropriate
to a collection of this importance, each volume will be produced
with the utmost luxury — fully bound in genuine leather and
ornamented in 24 karat gold.
When the mailing went out, several of my friends in the publishing field suggested we had
embarked on perhaps the greatest folly in all of publishing. "Imagine," they laughed, "being so
naive as to think you can get people to pay several thousands of dollars to buy a collection of 100
books... and you don't even tell them what the titles or who the authors will be."
But their laughter died quickly when this single mailing made The Franklin Mint one of the
world's largest book publishers overnight. Thanks to the dedicated effort of a hard-working committee,
it was determined that the kind of collector The Franklin Mint was serving would rather
own a collection selected by "a distinguished international board of scholars" than build a collection
on their own. If the 100 titles had been announced, many of the buyers would likely have
concluded they already owned some of the titles so it would be impractical to add duplicates to
their libraries.
Bob O'Brien's letter concluded:
Because you have a collector's instinct and an appreciation of fine
things, owning this private library has many rewards. There is, of
course, the pleasure of great literature. Beyond that, the satisfaction
of providing a cultural heirloom for your family — and the ownership
of what may well become a most valuable and sought-after collection.
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