The History of Freemasonry
London: Thomas C. Jack, 1884. First Edition, Deluxe Issue. Quarto, 504 pages, publisher's original full leather with gilt lettering and ornate gilt decoration. Raised bands to spine. Marbled endpapers, inside gilt dentelles. All edges gilt. Illustrated throughout in black-and-white. The History of Freemasonry by Robert Freke Gould, published in London by Thomas C. Jack in 1884, is one of the earliest and most important scholarly studies of the Craft. Issued in multiple volumes, the work marked a decisive shift away from legendary and romanticized accounts of Freemasonry toward careful archival research and documentary evidence. Gould, a respected Masonic historian and founding figure of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, sought to trace the evolution of operative stonemasons’ guilds into speculative Freemasonry, examining early lodge records, the formation of Grand Lodges, and the spread of the fraternity across Europe and America. Volume I lays the essential groundwork for the series and remains a cornerstone reference in serious Masonic literature, valued for both its historical rigor and its enduring influence on modern Masonic scholarship. Top board detached, some rubbing and wear, scuffs to leather, some occasional light scattered foxing, inscription that reads “The Circle Lodge of Instruction”", else in good + condition. Item #215
Price: $300.00