“THE MOST VALUABLE EDITION”: ANDERSON’S LANDMARK CONSTITUTIONS OF THE FREEMASONS, 1784

(FREEMASONRY) ANDERSON, James. Constitutions of the Antient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons… A New Edition. London: J. Rozea, Printer to the Society, 1784. Square quarto, contemporary full crimson calf rebacked with original elaborately gilt-decorated spine with Masonic symbols neatly laid down, gilt-decorated covers with inlaid black morocco centerpieces, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt and gauffered.

Early and “most valuable” edition of Anderson’s landmark 18th-century history of Freemasonry that set “the standards of British Freemasonry for nearly a century,” with impressive engraved frontispiece—the first to display “a clear and deliberate representation of Masonic globes.” Very handsomely bound in contemporary calf decorated with Masonic and Christian symbols.

A society whose origins are traceable to those who worked “‘freestone… craftsmen who raised the cathedrals and other great English buildings during the Middle Ages,” Freemasonry has been linked to “ancient Mysteries, the Essenes, Roman Colleges, Culdees, Hermeticisim, Fehm-Gerichts et hoc genus omne, especially the Steinmetzen, the Craft Gilds and the Companionage of France… [and] involves an elaborate system of symbolic ritual” (Encyclopaedia Britannica). In its chronicle of Freemasonry’s early history, the 18th-century Constitutions, written by Scottish minister James Anderson and first published in 1723, stands as a pivotal, groundbreaking work. “Anderson is a figure of central significance… whose importance lies in… providing a history stressing the antiquity and importance of ‘the Craft’ and in his efforts to define the attitude of Freemasonry to religion… His works were to set the standards of British Freemasonry for nearly a century… Anderson’s Constitutions were to be of central importance to Freemasonry, supplying a foundation and agreed traditions and regulations” (Stevenson, Heredom, 93, 121). “In 1784 John Noorthouck published by authority this fifth edition. This was well printed in quarto, with numerous notes, and is considered as the most valuable edition” (Mackey, Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry, 123). This edition is also renowned for its impressive frontispiece engraving, for “it is only with the 1784 edition that we are, for the first time, confronted wth a clear and deliberate representation of Masonic globes. The elaborate frontispiece to this volume was designed and engraved by Bartolozzi, assisted by Cipriani, both accomplished and famed Italian artists. The architecture depicted is that of the inside of Free Mason’s Hall. Faith, Hope and Charity are represented at the uppermost part of the print. In the center Truth holds a mirror from which rays of light descend” (Beresiner, Masonic Papers). See Kenning’s Masonic Cyclopaedia, 75. Early owner signatures.

Occasional spotting. Corners gently bumped. A desirable copy of this important edition, in a lovely contemporary binding with Masonic symbols.