1879 - 300 MASONIC POEMS & ODES BY ROB MORRIS, MASONIC POET LAUREATE, LEATHER

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1879 - 300 MASONIC POEMS & ODES BY ROB MORRIS - MASONIC POET LAUREATE - BLACK CALF LEATHER IMMACULATE PAGES “THREE HUNDRED MASONIC ODES AND POEMS” by Rob Morris. Published by Masonic Publishing Company, William T. Anderson, No. 3, Fourth Street, Corner of Broadway, New York City, 1879. The complete table of contents is shown in our photos, taken from the index of poems. 145 mostly immaculate pages aged to an ivory color, occasional smudge mark in the margins, coated marbled endpapers, front and back, in colors of blue-red-green-white. The page edges are red speckled by the publisher on all 3 page edges. The front endpapers have a small triangular piece of marbling missing at the very top of the endpapers. The second front endpapers have some light soiling & on the left second front endpaper the “ghost” residue of an old bookplate and above that faint remnant of contemporary handwriting, the title page has some light soiling. Bound in polished black Calf leather spine, binding, and corners with 5 very prominently raised bands on the spine with gilt filigree running across the crown of each band. On the spine there is gilt rule, with 2 bands of gilt rule across the raised buttresses at the top & bottom of the spine. There is gilt rule above and beneath each raised band on the spine. Gilt titling is in the second spine compartment. The covers are covered with dimpled linen to resemble Morocco leather. Bumps to the corners and to the top & bottom of the spine. Some discoloration on the covers though the contrast is slight. A few spots of scuffing on the covers. Light chipping at the top of the front cover binding where the spine meets the binding – nothing compromised. This book is tightly bound and the hinges work nicely. Please see our photos. The book measures 9-1/2” tall x 6-1/2” wide x 5/8” thick or 24.1, 16.5, 1.6cm. ROB MORRIS (1818-1888) was a prominent American poet and Freemason and the Poet Laureate Freemasonry. He also created the first ritual for what was to become the Order of the Eastern Star. After he became a Mason on March 5, 1846, he became convinced that there needed to be a way for female relatives of Masons to share in some measure in the benefits of Freemasonry. While teaching at the Eureka Masonic College ("The Little Red Brick School Building") in Richland, Mississippi in 1849-1850, he wrote Eastern Star's first ritual, titled The Rosary of the Eastern Star. He organized a "Supreme Constellation" in 1845 to charter Star chapters. In 1866, because of his planned travel abroad, he handed over the organizational authority of Eastern Star to Robert Macoy. He later served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky in 1848-9. Upon being given a job as professor of the Masonic University, he moved to La Grange, Kentucky in 1860. Over the years, he wrote over 400 poems, many of which were devoted to Eastern Star and Masonry. While traveling in the Holy Land, he wrote the words to the hymn "O Galilee". In 1854, he wrote "The Level and the Square", which may be his best-known poem. Because of his many works on Masonic subjects, on December 17, 1884, he was crowned the "Poet Laureate of Freemasonry", an honor which had not been granted since the death of Robert Burns in 1796. Rob Morris’ writings cover Masonic jurisprudence, rituals and handbooks, Masonic belles-lettres, history and biography, travels and contributions to the Review, Freystone, Advocate, New York Dispatch, and other papers and periodicals. Posted with eBay Mobile read more

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