A General History of Free Masonry in Europe
By Emmanuel Rebold, M.D.
Translated and Compiled by J. Fletcher Brennan, Editor of The American Freemason’s Magazine
Cincinnati: American Masonic Publishing Association, 114 Main Street, 1867.
Description:
Octavo, original green cloth with gilt title and Masonic emblem on spine, blind-stamped central medallion on front and rear boards. 495 pages. Spine worn with small losses and some splitting at hinges; binding shaken but complete. Pages show scattered foxing, typical of 19th-century American bindings, but remain clean and readable.
About the Work:
This early English-language edition of Rebold’s General History of Freemasonry in Europe is among the most influential and comprehensive 19th-century attempts to trace the Craft’s development from ancient and medieval sources to the formation of the modern lodges. Rebold, a French Masonic historian, compiled one of the first systematic histories of the fraternity from a Continental perspective, while translator J. Fletcher Brennan — an important American Masonic editor and scholar — introduced the text to English-speaking audiences.
The work reflects the post–Civil War period’s intellectual interest in reconciling American and European Masonic traditions, and this 1867 Cincinnati edition is significant for being one of the earliest full-length Masonic histories published by an American Masonic press.
Condition:
Good– condition overall: boards rubbed, spine cloth chipped, inner hinges tender but holding. Textblock solid and complete with moderate foxing.
Provenance:
Published by the American Masonic Publishing Association, an important early Masonic publishing house that later became absorbed into other fraternal presses of the late 19th century.
Significance:
A cornerstone Masonic historical reference and a key transitional text between early European speculative studies and later American Masonic encyclopedias such as Mackey’s and Mitchell’s.
