James Anderson - Constitutions 1723 - American 1734 edition.pdf - Masoneria - blackassassin

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FacultyPublications,UNLLibraries

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TheConstitutionsoftheFree-Masons

(1734).AnOnlineElectronicEdition.

JamesAnderson BenjaminFranklin †

PaulRoyster ‡

RightWorshipfulFraternityofAcceptedFree-Masons,

† GrandMasterofMasonsofPennsylvania,

‡ UniversityofNebraska-Lincoln,proyster@unl.edu

ThispaperispostedatDigitalCommons@UniversityofNebraska-Lincoln.

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libraryscience/25

The Constitutions of the Free-Masons (1734).

An Online Electronic Edition.

Contents

This is an online electronic edition of the the first Masonic book

printed in America, which was produced in Philadelphia by Benjamin

Franklin in 1734, and was a reprint of a work by James Anderson (who

is identified as the author in an appendix) printed in London in 1723.

This is the seminal work of American Masonry, edited and pub-

lished by one of the founding fathers, and of great importance to the

development of colonial society and the formation of the Republic.

The work contains a 40-page history of Masonry: from Adam to

the reign of King George I, including, among others, Noah, Abra-

ham, Moses, Solomon, Hiram Abif, Nebuchadnezzar, Augustus Cae-

sar, Vitruvius, King Athelstan the Saxon, Inigo Jones, and James I

of England. There are extended descriptions of the Seven Wonders

of the World, viz. 1) the Great Pyramid, 2) Solomon’s Temple, 3) the

City and Hanging-Gardens of Babylon, 4) the Mausoleum or Tomb of

Mausolus, King of Caria, 5) the Lighthouse of Pharos at Alexandria,

6) Phidias’s statue of Jupiter Olympius in Achaia, and 7) the Colossus

at Rhodes (although some maintain the 5th is the Obelisk of Semira-

mis). It is a celebration of the science of Geometry and the Royal Art

of Architecture, as practiced from ancient times until the then-current

revival of the Roman or Augustan Style. “The Charges of a Free-

Mason” and the “General Regulations” concern rules of conduct for

individuals and of governance for Lodges and their officers. The work

also includes five songs to be sung at meetings, one of which—“A New

Song”—appears in print for the first time and may have been com-

posed by Franklin.

The document suggests that Masonry, in its modern Anglo-Ameri-

can form, was rooted in Old Testament exegesis (“So that the Isra-

elites , at their leaving Egypt , were a whole Kingdom of Masons , …

under the Conduct of their GR A ND M A S TER MOSE S”) and

in contemporary Protestant ideals of morality, merit, and political

equality.

Facsimile of the 1734 title page

frontispiece

Dedication: To His Grace the Duke of Montagu

The Constitution, History, Laws, Charges, Orders,

Regulations, and Usages of the Right Worshipful

Fraternity of Accepted Free-Masons

The Charges of a Free-Mason

Postscript: Coke’s Opinion on 3 Hen . VI. Chap . I.

General Regulations, Compiled by Mr. George Payne

Postscript: The Manner of Constituting a New Lodge

Approbation

The Master’s Song, or the History of Masonry

The Warden’s Song, or Another History of Masonry

[A Paragraph from an Old Record]

The Fellow-Crafts Song, by Charles Delafaye, Esq.

The Enter’d ’Prentices Song, by Mr. Matthew Birkhead 90

A New Song

[Order to Publish]

Editorial Note

THE

CONSTITUTIONS

OF THE

FREE-MASONS.

CONTAINING THE

Hi#ory, Charges, Regulations, &c.

of that most Ancient and Right

Wo r s h i p f u l F R A T E R N I T Y .

For the Use of the L O D G E S .

Title page of the 1734 Philadelphia edition,

which measures approximately 5 3 / 4 x 8 inches

LON DON Printed; Anno 5723.

Re-printed in Philadelphia by special Order, for the Use

of the Brethren in NORTH-AMERICA.

In the Year of Masonry 5734, Anno Domini 1734.

His G RACE the D U K E of

MONTAG U.

My Lord,

Y Order of his Grace the

D UKE of W HARTON ,

t he present Right Wor-

shipful G RAND- M ASTER

of the Free-Masons ; and, as his Dep-

uty , I humbly dedicate this Book of

the Constitutions of our ancient Fra-

ternity to your Grace , in Testimony

of your honourable, prudent, and

D EDICATION.

vigilant Discharge of the Office of

our G RAND - M ASTER last Year.

approv’d by the Grand Lodge, when

your Grace was G RAND - M ASTER .

All the Brother-hood will ever re-

member the Honour your Grace

has done them, and your Care for

their Peace, Harmony, and lasting

Friendship : Which none is more

duly sensible of than,

I need not tell your Grace what

Pains our learned Author has taken

in compiling and digesting this

Book from the old Records , and how

accurately he has compar’d and

made every thing agreeable to His-

tory and Chronology , so as to render

these N EW C ONSTIT U TIONS a

just and exact Account of Masonry

from the Beginning of the World

to your Grace’s Mastership, still pre-

serving all that was truly ancient

and authentick in the old ones : For

every Brother will be pleas’d with

the Performance, that knows it had

your Grace’s Perusal and Approba-

tion, and that it is now printed for

the Use of the Lodges , after it was

My LOR D ,

Yo u r G

RACE ’ s

most oblig’d, and

most obedient Servant,

and Faithful Brother,

J.T. D ESAGULIERS ,

Deputy Grand-Master.

James Anderson - Constitutions 1723 - American 1734 edition.pdf

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