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BACK NEXT Summer 2008 Issue 45 Letter from the Editor Grand Lodge News News and Views On The Level International News Beyond the Craft Perambulating the Lodge Masonic Dining and Celebration Interview: The Grand Chancellor The Orator Walking the Way of Saint James Abd el-Kader: Algerian Nationalist and Freemason Province of Cambridgeshire Library & Museum Brother Lightfoote's Journal Review: Committed to the Flames Review: The Mythology of Secret Societies Review: The Dawn of Astrology Letters to the Editor Internet Library & Museum of Freemasonry Grand Lodge Quarterly Communication Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter RMBI Masonic Samaritan Fund Grand Charity RMTGB Canon Richard Tydeman: Looking unto the Rock Copyright 1997-2008 Grand Lodge Publications Ltd Designed and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited

FREEMASONRY TODAY Curiosities & Collectibles The Treasures of Freemasons' Hall London As a preamble to an article that will do justice to the amazing content of our Library and Museum of Freemasonry, I spoke with Mark Dennis, Curator since October 1999. I asked him to direct me to the various paintings and statues in the Grand Lodge building outside the L-shaped perimeter of the Museum and Library itself. The result is a wonderful array of important paintings and several sculptures, which many of us will have walked passed in corridors or sat beneath in the rooms ... Masonic Buttons From time immemorial the button has been used for the relatively simple function of fastening articles of dress or clothing. The ancient Greeks fastened their tunics through loops. The Knights Templar and the Orders of S.John of Jerusalem and of Thomas of Acon also used this system until the invention of the buttonhole in the 13th century. As dress styles changed through the centuries, buttons quickly gained ground in popularity and became ... Masonic Songs and Music These are the now familiar words of a song entitled The Free Mason’s Health, the words and flute music for which appear on a charmingly engraved music sheet dated 1738. It is one of a series of songs published in George Bickham’s The Musical Entertainer. His name appears on most of the sheets on the margin as Frater George Bickham Junr sc. Indicating his little known membership of the Craft. Each sheet in The Musical Entertainer has a different engraving heading the music and words that follow. Groups of four plates at a time are dedicated to various Grand Masters ... Early Theatrical Posters The ritual text for a Master investing an organist states: “Freemasonry, from the earliest period of its history, has availed itself of the aid of music in the performance of its rites and ceremonies.” Indeed, when Freemasons’ Hall was built in 1775 special allocations were made for the accommodation not only of an organ but also a complete orchestra both of which, with a full voice choir, performed on the occasion of the dedication of the Hall on 23 May 1776. From the early 18th century the Freemasons supported the arts. This is best reflected in the colourful and detailed ... Lost and Found Finding masonic jewels is often a case of being in the right place at the right time. Whilst collecting some items from an antique dealer recently, I was informed of a continental dealer with a substantial stock of masonic items. Having been given the gentleman’s business card, I eagerly requested a catalogue. Within a week I received a reply informing me that the stock was too large to list but nonetheless he enclosed a brochure of a forthcoming auction. What a surprise it was! 12 pages full of jewels, porcelain, glass, bronze, books, aprons, sashes: an endless supply ... Early Newspapers The first mention of Freemasonry in a newspaper can be found in The Tatler for Tuesday 7 June 1711. It is an anonymous letter addressed to Isaac Bickerstaff, pseudonym for Richard Steele, who established The Tatler on 12 April 1709. Referring to ongoing correspondence, the relevant text reads: ...But my Reason for troubling you at this present is, to put a Stop, if it may be, to an insinuating, increasing Set of People, who sticking to the Letter of your Treatise, and not to the Spirit of it, do assume the Name of Pretty fellows; nay, and even get new Names, as you very well hint ... The Sham Exposure Organised Freemasonry began with the establishment in London of the Premier Grand Lodge of England on 24 June 1717. Although the event was totally ignored by the contemporary press, much of our subsequent history is covered by newspaper reports in the early part of the 18th century. The first hints of antagonism towards the Craft appeared in the London Journal on February 15 1722 when it was announced that “a treatise is likely soon to appear... to prove, that the Gypsies are a Society of much longer standing than that of the Free-Masons ...   Curiosities & Collectibles © Grand Lodge Publications Ltd 1997-2008