by William Hutchinson, F.A.S.

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The author, William Hutchinson, F.A.S., passed away on 7th of April, 1814, at the age of 82, after a long career as an attorney, and as an author and devoted Freemason. He penned such works as A History of the County of Durham, A View of Northumberland, A History of Cumberland, and The Spirit of Masonry. He was a Member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries.

Social history as a corrective to historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. The history of Freemasonry illustrates this. It remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of materials that even great research libraries lack. This volume is a case in point. Fraternal movements like Freemasonry have impacted society for hundreds of years. Yet, over time research into their undoubted influence has been handicapped by their codes of secrecy, arcane rituals, and the paucity of continuing tertiary research projects. As a step towards “more light” Westphalia Press has produced a number of scarce titles that will be helpful in understanding the “secret empire” of lodges, initiations, and (candidly) the deliberately inscrutable.

This new edition is respectfully dedicated to Arturo de Hoyos, brilliant scholar and supremely gifted researcher.