David TAILLADES, Hiram, Le Mystere de la Maitrise et les origines de la franc-maconnerie (Paris: Editions Dervy, 2017)

Presented as a gift from the author to Rare Books for assistance with Masonic sources, such as articles from the Ars Quatuor Coronatorum.

Title: Ars Quatuor Coronatorum: Being the Transactions of the Quatuor Coronati, Lodge No. 2076, London. Volume I.

Author: Freemasons

Edited by: G. W. Speth, P.M., Secretary

Publisher: Margate: Printed at “Kemble’s Gazette” Office, MDCCCXCV (1895)

Quatuor Coronati is the world’s premier Freemason research lodge. Established in 1884 (and consecrated in 1886), the lodge’s founders wished to advance an evidence-based approach to study Masonic history and research the origins of Freemasonry. Their approach was intended to replace the more imaginative writings of earlier authors and is referred to as the ‘authentic school’ of Masonic research. The Lodge publishes lectures, research papers, and ‘notes & queries’ annually in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum (‘AQC’), which also consists of the transactions of the Lodge. The AQC is distributed internationally. The J. Willard Marriott Library holds the first one hundred and seventeen volumes of the publication (up through 2004). The volumes in Rare Books came to the collections from the library of Kent Walgren.

David Taillades approached Rare Books in November 2016, requesting digital reproductions of articles from the the AQC because the documents “can’t be found in France.” Over the next six months Rare Books worked to support David’s research into the origins of Freemasonry in France by providing access to select articles found throughout its set of AQC. According to David, the support the Rare Books staff provided aided him greatly in his ability to publish his research.