History of the Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and accepted Masons

THERE ARE 55 BILLION PAGES ON THE INTERNET... YOU'RE NOT LOOKING AT THIS BOOK BY ACCIDENT.
A GENUINE DATE STAMPED 1891 EDITION "POSSIBLE 1ST EDITION" DOUBLE DATE STAMPED 1890 & 1891 131 YEARS OLD
DATING TO THE 14TH CENTURY, THIS BOOK IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE MANUSCRIPTS YOU WILL FIND
CONTAINING A MASSIVE COMPENDIUM OF FREEMASONRY WITH 910 PAGES AND COUNTLESS WORKS OF ART
CEREMONIES, INITIATION, ROYAL ARCH, MASTER MASONRY, ANCIENT EGYPT, CRYPTIC MASONRY, GREEK & EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY, THE MAGIC TRIANGLE, OCCULTISM, ENOCH, GARDEN OF EDEN, SECRET DOCTRINES, THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES, THE ROSICRUCIANS, THE GRAND LODGE, SPIRITUALITY, ANCIENT MASONRY, HOLY PENTAGRAM, & MORE
JUST FOR AN AGE REFERENCE, THIS BOOK WAS PRINTED OVER 20 YEARS BEFORE WWI
THIS IS A LARGE BOOK WEIGHING WELL OVER 4LBS

"There is in heaven a light whose goodly shine makes the creator visible to all created..."

Without any question one of the most thorough books of Freemasonry ever created. Containing everything from the highest degrees to the beginnings of Masonry itself. Heavily illustrated with a plethora of gorgeous works of art and diagrams. A massive book containing 900+ pages in very nice condition. Historical copywrite records show 1891 as the very first edition, although it's dated twice, 1890 and 1891. Encompassing everything from its original origins to some of its innermost secrets. This book is an exceptional find for any mason or even someone who wants to understand this secret society's inner workings. Although this book may be titled "The History of Freemasonry," I can assure you it encompasses far more than just that... I would snag this one before someone else does.

The overall condition of this book is very good, even though it's now well over a century in the making. The pages are in superb condition with only a slight bit of age toning. The binding is tight and sound, and all pages hold very well. The covers have a few spots, small blemishes, and some rubbing, but for and 1891 edition, it's been exceptionally well-kept.

The history of Freemasonry encompasses the origins, evolution, and defining events of the fraternal organization known as Freemasonry. It covers three phases. Firstly, the emergence of organized lodges of operative masons during the Middle Ages, then the admission of lay members as "accepted" (a term reflecting the ceremonial "acception" process that made non-stone masons members of an operative lodge) or "speculative" masons, and finally the evolution of purely speculative lodges, and the emergence of Grand Lodges to govern them. The watershed in this process is generally taken to be the formation of the first Grand Lodge in London in 1717. The two difficulties facing historians are the paucity of written material, even down to the 19th century, and the misinformation generated by masons and non-masons alike from the earliest years.

Freemasonry's long history includes its early development from organized bodies of operative stonemasons to the modern system of speculative lodges organized around regional or national "Grand Lodges".

The earliest masonic texts each contain some history of the craft of masonry. The oldest known work of this type, The Halliwell Manuscript, also known as Regius Poem, dates from between 1390 and 1425. This document has a brief history in its introduction, stating that the "craft of masonry" began with Euclid in Egypt, and came to England in the reign of King Athelstan (924–939).[1] Shortly afterward, the Matthew Cooke Manuscript traces masonry to Jabal, son of Lamech (Genesis 4: 20–22), and tells how this knowledge came to Euclid, from him to the Children of Israel (while they were in Egypt), and so on through an elaborate path to Athelstan. This myth formed the basis for subsequent manuscript constitutions, all tracing masonry back to biblical times, and fixing its institutional establishment in England during the reign of Athelstan.

Shortly after the formation of the Premier Grand Lodge of England, James Anderson was commissioned to digest these "Gothic Constitutions" in a palatable, modern form. The resulting constitutions are prefaced by history more extensive than any before, again tracing the history of what was now freemasonry back to biblical roots, again forging Euclid into the chain. True to his material, Anderson fixes the first grand assembly of English Masons at York, under Athelstan's son, Edwin, who is otherwise unknown to history. Expanded, revised, and republished, Anderson's 1738 constitutions listed the Grand Masters since Augustine of Canterbury, listed as Austin the Monk. William Preston's Illustrations of Freemasonry enlarged and expanded on this masonic creation myth.

In France, the 1737 lecture of Chevalier Ramsay added the crusaders to the lineage. He maintained that Crusader Masons had revived the craft with secrets recovered in the Holy Land, under the patronage of the Knights Hospitaller. At this point, the history of the craft in Continental Freemasonry diverged from that in England.