>>>Sometime about 1780, Ben Franklin wrote a letter to a George Whatley,
a Philadelphia optician, explaining to him how he had invented bifocal
spectacles. . . .Does any one out there have any idea who now
possesses this letter?
Try contacting the Library of Congress - Manuscripts Division. They have a
nice selection of Franklin correspondence. However, I don't believe that
they loan.
Nancy Pope
Museum Program Specialist
National Postal Museum
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC 20560
[log in to unmask]