London, James Dixwell, A.L. 5769 A.D. 1769. 8vo. Bound uncut in a bit later blue half calf binding with five raised bands and gilt lettering to spine. Top-edge gilt. Spine faded and with a few scratches. Ex-libris (Sidney Edward Bouverie Bouverie-Pusey) to verso of front board. Internally with light occassional brownspotting, primarily affecting first and last leaves. (4), XXXII, 243 pp.
First edition of this early and influential work on freemasonry, one of the earliest systematic printed discussions of the society. The work discusses the origin, symbolism, and moral aims of the order while responding to contemporary criticism, presenting Freemasonry as a philosophical and charitable institution rooted in Enlightenment ideals. ""Wellins Calcott saw in Freemasonry something more than a museum of Medieval relics, and more than a set of convivial clubs, and undertook to write a rational, or philosophy, on the Craft, becoming thereby the first of a line of greatly distinguished Craftsmen, in which were to stand Hutchinson, Preston, Oliver, Mackey. In 1769 (and with 1200 subscribers) he published A Candid Disquisition of the Principles and Practices of the Most Honorable society of Free and Accepted Masons, etc. Oliver described this book, so simple, so gentle in spirit, and with few obvious displays of the classical learning behind it, ""the gem of the period."" Kenning describes Calcott: ""Indeed he may fully be called the father of the Masonic philosophical and didactic school.""""(Mackey, Encyclopedia Of Freemasonry). Sidney Edward Bouverie Bouverie-Pusey (1839-1911) was a British author whose works included Permanence and evolution: an inquiry into the supposed mutability of animal types (1882) and The past history of Ireland: a brief sketch (1894). Wolfstieg 1363
1769 London, printed for the author by Brother James Dixwell, 1769. Grand in-8° de [4]+XXXII+243+[1bl] pages. Reliure dépoque en plein veau havane, bordure dorée et emblèmes maçonniques en écoinçons sur les plats, dos à nerfs orné, pièce de titre en maroquin rouge, tranches jaunes. Première édition.
2. London, printed by C. Wheatstone, s.d. ( ca. 1825), format 33 x 24,2 cm . 2 Lvs with 3 pp of engraved music , (as issued). No plate number , Price 1/6 s.. Disbound, removed from a binding , with some damage at inner margin.
2. London, printed for G. Walker at the Music Warehouse, s.d. ( ca. 1825), format 33 x 24,2 cm . 2 Lvs with 4 pp of engraved music , (as issued). No plate number , Price 1/6 s.. Disbound, removed from a binding , with some damage at inner margin.
Oliver & Boyd Ltd. 1963. In-12. Broché. Etat d'usage, Couv. légèrement pliée, Dos frotté, Intérieur acceptable. 117 pages. Illustré de nombreux dessins en noir et blanc dans le texte.. . . . Classification Dewey : 420-Langue anglaise. Anglo-saxon
'Angling paperbacks', n° 1. Classification Dewey : 420-Langue anglaise. Anglo-saxon