L’Ordre des Francs-Macons trahi, et leur secret revele.
1784. 8vo. xii, 106, [2] pp. Large folding woodcut plate. Contemporary blind-ruled calf. Old stamp of “Frèrie Orientalée”. In very good condition. Item #18935
New expanded editions of two classic works on freemasonry. The first attempts to expose the occult nature of the brotherhood, including recruitment processes, initiation rituals, meeting places, handshakes, symbolism, and connections to ancient mysticism. Both the The folding plate illustrates the appropriate layout of a Masonic altar for both a company apprentice and a master. The final page depicts the Pigpen cypher, claiming to make it public for the first time. The second text transcribes 81 songs and chants that are purportedly the verse repertoire of all freemasons.
Both texts were obviously published under false imprints; various bibliographers have attributed editions of them to printers in Amsterdam, Paris, Leipzig, and other French-speaking locales. Most authorities believe L’Ordre des Francs-Maçons to have been written by Pérau, a pretender priest who specialized in biographical gossip, but others have suggested the Italian librettist Giovanni Gualberto Bottarelli.
Price: $2,500.00