Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. The Constitutions and Regulations of 1762... Secret Constitutions of the 33rd Degree.
New York: Masonic Publishing Company, 1872. First edition. 29x23cm, [5], 467pp. Title in two colors, facsimile letter from Pike at front, decorated initials throughout. Functional, modern black cloth binding with silver lettering on spine. Former owner's bookplate to front pastedown, page edges very lightly toned. A clean, fine copy.
Full title:
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. The Constitutions and Regulations of 1762. Statutes and Regulations of Perfection, and Other Degrees. Vera Instituta Secreta et Fundamenta Ordinis of 1786. The Secret Constitutions of the 33rd Degree, with the Statutes of 1859, 1866, 1868, 1870 & 1872, of the Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction.
Foundational publication of the Southern Scottish Rite, here in a large paper copy, beautifully letterpress printed and with generous margins, likely for use by a high-degree governing body. Issued under the authority of Albert Pike as Sovereign Grand Commander, this 1872 compilation brought together the foundational constitutional documents of the Scottish Rite, including the Bordeaux Constitutions of 1762, the so-called Secret Constitutions of 1786, and the statutes of the Southern Jurisdiction issued over the preceding 13 years. With this compilation, Pike effectively established the authoritative legal framework governing the Rite in the post-Civil War United States.
Scarcer than Pike’s Morals and Dogma of 1871, this constitutional compilation stands among the most important institutional publications of the Scottish Rite under Pike’s leadership. OCLC cites perhaps 6 physical holdings for this printing. . Item #9558
Price: $1,500.00