Meaning of "work of much labour and learning" in context

Question

"The Life of Franklin", by James Patron, is a work of much labour and learning which has fallen into unmerited neglect.

Q1) Was this work so difficult to write (by author) or it takes so much labour for a reader to read it?

Q2) What "learning" refers to here?

A "work of much labor" literally means that great effort was expended in creating it. But the connotation usually is that a lot of skilled work was expended. "A work of great learning" means a work that demonstrates a deep and thorough knowledge of the subject. So what is meant here is that the work is the result of great and careful effort from someone fully knowledgeable. — Jeff Morrow, Commented Feb 5, 2020 at 17:12

Sam Harrington · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-24 16:12:07Z

1

First of all let me state what the 'work' is (or at least how I would interpret it). It's the authors work, -the book.

I think it's trying to express that it took the author's labor as well as the learning-of franklin's life

...work (the book) of (the author's) labour and learning

answered Oct 24, 2017 at 16:12

Sam Harrington

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