Histoire De La Fondation Du Grand Orient De France

A book entitled Histoire de la foundation du Grand Orient de France by Claude-Antoine Thory, 1812. This is likely an editor’s copy for a new edition. It has 471 pages and is annotated throughout. There are 4 plates at the end of the book that contain various illustrations resembling lockets. The title page states that the book contains the “…revolutions that have preceded, accompanied and followed until one thousand seven hundred ninety nine, era of the meeting in this body, the Grand Lodge of France, known as the Grand Orient de Clermont, or the Arcade de la Pelleterie, with an appendix containing the supporting documents, several curious and unpublished reports with the history of the Franche- Masonry, the details of many rites and a fragment of the secret meetings of women.” (Section 1 pp1-96, Section 2 pp. 97-183, Section 3 pp.184-281, Section 4 pp. 282-346, Section 5 pp. 347-471)

Scottish Rite (Masonic Order) French Language Collection, 1787-1825, 1907, n.d.

The origins of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry can be traced to France around 1754, when a Chapter of Claremont was founded in Paris. Initially this chapter had seven degrees, but by 1758 there were twenty-five degrees, known as the Rite of Perfection. In 1761, Stephen Morin was appointed to introduce the Rite into the New World. He began with Kingston, Jamaica and San Domingo. Further establishments were made in New Orleans, LA(1763); Albany, NY (1767); Philadelphia, PA (1782); and Charleston, SC (1783). In order to improve the disorganized state of the degrees in Europe, “Grand Constitutions” were enacted in 1786. These Constitutions formally brought into existence the “Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite”. None of the degrees of the Scottish Rite would seem to have origins in Scotland. “Scottish” is translated from the French word “Ecossais”, which is found in some of the French titles of some of the degrees of the Rite of Perfection. It is possible that the Scottish connection is a result of the involvement of a Scotsman, Andrew Michael Ramsey, who may have devised some of the degrees.