Bookseller Dan pointed me to a documentary about facsimile printing presses, which, in turn, led me to learn of The Library Company of Philadelphia:
The Library Company was founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin as a subscription library. Members pooled their financial resources so they would be able to afford a larger and finer library than any one of them could have amassed individually.
I spend my days supporting a publication that sports a rendering of Franklin on its cover, so I take some comfort that, 289 years later, Franklin’s library continues to serve its shareholders.
I am 
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