1723 Constitutions of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons Containing their History, Charges, Regulations, Etc. Collected and Digested by Order of the Grand Lodge from their old Records, faithful Traditions and Lodge-Books, for the Use of the Lodges
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Description
1723 First Edition Printing of Anderson's Constitutions, the seminal work of the early speculative Craft. The Constitutions of the Free-Masons was a constitution written for the Premier Grand Lodge of England (aka "The Moderns during the schism of the early 1750s until 1813), to standardize the rituals and practices of Freemasonry among lodges of London and Westminster operating under that Grand Lodge. Obviously, it was not meant to apply to other lodges in other parts of England, Scotland and Ireland. The constitution laid the foundation of the legend of Hiram Abiff, King Solomon's Master Builder, along with the pyramid style organizational model of Freemasonry. The first and second edition were written by Rev. James Anderson in 1723 and 1738. The first section of the Constitution, on religion, stating that Masons can be of any faith and that they need only adhere to the Religion in which all Men agree, comes very close to the concept of a Natural Religion, a popular idea during the Enlightenment.
Type
text
Identifier
73161286-9DD5-4652-AADE-802853283777 1894
Subject
Anderson's Constitutions Constitutions Charges Regulations Lodge Books Records History Ancient and Honourable Free and Accepted Masons James Anderson
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