SIMONS, John W. "A Familiar Treatise on Masonic Jurisprudence" [1866]

SIMONS, John W. A Familiar Treatise on the Principles and Practice of Masonic Jurisprudence.

New York: Masonic Publishing and Manufacturing Co., 432 Broome Street, 1866. 7.5" x 5", 319pp. Publisher’s original chocolate brown cloth, boards with blind-stamped ornamental corner borders, spine gilt with ornate script title and publisher’s device at foot (“Masonic Publishing and Manufacturing Company, N.Y.”). Yellow coated endpapers. Front free endpaper bearing printed lodge label: “The Property of Lodge of the Ancient Landmarks, No. 441,” with manuscript notation “Added to Library March 1869,” and printed instruction that the book not be removed from the lodge rooms. Frontispiece portrait of the author present. Very minor rubbing of head/tail of spine but overall clean and tight. Very Good+.

This work represents one of the most widely used American manuals on the legal principles governing Masonic lodges, officers, trials, and discipline. Simons systematized lodge procedure at a time when American Freemasonry was rapidly expanding and standardizing its internal governance. Copies preserved in lodge libraries document how Masonic law was practically taught, consulted, and enforced at the local level during the post–Civil War period.