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A very good original tight binding. Folio. 14.75" 10" x 1.5" . [2pp.]/pp.8/pp.602 . Brown blind stamped cloth, with gilttitle to front board . Boards lightly soiled, edges rubbed. Spine dulled with rubbed gilt title. Original yellow endpapers. Inner hinges carefully strengthened. This tome begins with a very useful 8 page index! 52 weekly papers; Jan 5, to Dec 28, 1878 , pagination is continious. Clean text throughout (just a couple of small blemishes). Articles include: Consecration of the Temple Bar Lodge, No. 1728 (there are reports on the consecration of 31 craft lodges); A note on the safe arrival of Cleopatra's needle; Obituary. Bro. Dr. J. V. Worthington, P.M. 220 (in all there are 57 obituaries); The New Grand Officers; An Advert for The Ocarina. The New Musical Instrument.; An Advert and report for the Lauch of the Masonic Life-Boat (Albert Edward) at Clacton-on-Sea; Provincial Grand Lodge Of Suffolk; etc. ** ". By the 1850s publishers had rapid and reliable access to the whole country, in addition, time spent travelling by rail created a demand for material to read. The growing number of freemasons were part of an expanding middle class who travelled and read, and these factors help to explain why, within three years of each other, two new, weekly masonic newspapers were launched, The freemason in 1869, and The freemasons chronicle in 1872. It is also surely no coincidence that the first weekly masonic publications were launched after the removal of the last of the stamp and paper taxes in 1855 and 1861 respectively, commonly referred to as the taxes on knowledge. As Brake points out, after these taxes were abolished there was a rise in daily and weekly serials. The newspaper reported freemasons involvement in national events, for example in the issue for the 27th October 1877, there is a notice concerning the Freemasons Indian Famine Fund. The regular column, Masonic and general tidings always tended to include items of general interest such as short reviews of good restaurants in London and details of the Lord Mayor s show. By the 1880s the newspaper had a special column which reviewed the plays on in the London theatres. A further indication of the leisure activities and interests of those who read the newspaper. The newspaper always included reports of lodge meetings, with a section specifically for London lodges. These reports often give a detailed account of an event or a meeting, listing individuals who attended and can be a very useful source of information about London freemasons and masonic life. Similarly the obituaries, some of which are very detailed and include pictures, provide insight into an aspect of a man s life which in many cases has remained hidden. Between 1873 and 1885 the Rev. Adolphus Frederic Alexander Woodford acted as editor. Woodford was a formidable masonic scholar and drew around him some of the great masonic scholars of the time. As a result articles by such men began to appear in the newspapers pages and helped to ignite a lively debate about the accepted views of masonic history. The newspaper was reflecting the interests and concerns of a growing number of freemasons who were believed in a more disciplined and erudite approach to masonic history. In 1886, a year after Woodford stepped down as editor, Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076 was formed with the aim of being the premier research Lodge and Woodford was one of its founding members. The newspaper demonstrated that a new approach to the history of freemasonry was in demand by the brethren, and the success of the research lodge, which still exists today, built on the foundations which the paper had laid." - See Fraternal Communications: The Rise Of The English Masonic Periodical by Rebecca Coombes, 2009 . *** George Kenning. The son of an East End oyster seller, Kenning realised the potential of the market: he not only manufactured the costumes, but sold a range of products from his shops across Britain. He set up a mail orde. Seller Inventory # 39102
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