Freemasonry was a major cultural and social phenomenon and a key element of the Enlightenment. It was to have an international influence across the globe. This primary resource collection charts a key period in the development of organized Freemasonry culminating in the formation of a single United Grand Lodge of England.
The secrecy that has surrounded Freemasonry has made it difficult to access information and documents about the organization and its adherents in the past. This collection is the result of extensive archival research and transcription and highlights the most significant themes associated with Freemasonry.
The documents are drawn from masonic collections, private archives and libraries worldwide. The majority of these texts have never before been republished. Documents include rituals (some written in code), funeral services, sermons, songs, certificates, an engraved list of lodges, letters, pamphlets, theatrical prologues and epilogues, and articles from newspapers and periodicals.
This collection will enable researchers to identify many key masons for the first time. It will be of interest to students of Freemasonry, the Enlightenment and researchers in eighteenth-century studies.
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
Bibliography
Anon. [signed Philo Lapidarius], An Answer to the Pope’s Bull, with the Character of a Freemason (1738)
Bernard Clarke, An Answer to the Pope’s Bull, with a Vindication of the Real Principles of Free-Masonry (1751)
William Imbrie and William Geddes, The Poor Man’s Complaint against the Whole Unwarrantable Procedure of the Associate Session in Glasgow, Anent him and Others in Seeking a Confession of the Mason and Chapman Oaths (1754)
James Steven, Blind Zeal Detected: or, A True Representation of the Conduct of the Meeting I was a Member of, and of the Kirk-Session of the Associate Congregation, at Glasgow (1755)
[Associate Synod], ‘An Act of the Associate Synod Concerning the Mason-Oath’ and A, R, ‘An Impartial Examination of the Act against Freemasons’ (1757) in the Appendix of The Free Masons Pocket Companion (1761)
Richard Lewis, The Free-Masons Advocate. Or, Falsehood Detected (1760)
Laurence Dermott, Ahiman Rezon, 2nd edn, excerpt containing polemic against Moderns Freemasons and in praise of Antients Freemasonry (1764)
[Anon.], A Defence of Free-Masonry, as Practiced in the Regular Lodges, both Foreign and Domestic under the Constitution of the English Grand Master (1765)
[Anon.], Masonry the Way to Hell, a Sermon (1768)
[Anon.], Masonry Vindicated: a Sermon. Wherein is Clearly and Demonstratively Proved, that a Sermon, Lately Published, ‘Intitled Masonry the Way to Hell’, is an Intire Piece of the Utmost Weakness, and Absurdity (1768)
George Smith, ‘Ancient and Modern Reasons Why the Ladies Have Never Been Admitted into the Society of Freemasons’, in The Use and Abuse of Free-Masonry (1783)
[A Friend to Truth], A Defence of Free Masons etc., in Answer to Professor John Robison’s Proofs of a Conspiracy (1797)
[Anon.], The Indictment and Trial of John Andrew, Shoemaker in Maybole, Sometime Teacher of a Private School There, and Robert Ramsay, Cart Wright There, Both Members of a Masonic Lodge at Maybole: Charged with the Crime of Sedition, and Administering Unlawful Oaths (1800)
[Anon.], Petition and Complaint at Brother Gibson’s Instance Against Brother Mitchell, and His Answers Thereto; With the Procedure of the Grand Lodge Thereon and Proof Adduced (1808)
[Anon.], An Exposition of the Causes which Have Produced the Late Dissensions Among the Free Masons of Scotland (1808)
[Anon.] An Enquiry into the Late Disputes among the Free-Masons of Ireland; Wherein is Detailed a Free and Important Account of the Different Transactions which Gave Rise to, and Continued the Controversy, from the Commencement to the Establishment of the Grand Lodge of Ulster (1812)
Editorial Notes
Silent Corrections
List of Sources
Biography
General Editor: Róbert Péter (volumes 4–5) is at the University of Szeged, Hungary
Volume Editors: Cécile Revauger (volume 1) is at the University Bordeaux Montaigne
Jan A. M. Snoek (volume 2–3) is at Heidelberg University, Germany
