The History of Freemasonry - Vol. I

Author: Albert Gallatin Mackey, 33^o (1897 - 1881)

Copyright 1898

There are countless books on the history and origins of Freemasonry. A choice few are written on the basis of rigorous scholarly research. Many mix pieces of history and tradition with a generous helping of well-meaning elaboration of fact and a pinch of unvarnished imagination.   Still more start and end as pure flights of fancy and invention disguised as history, often believed outright through ignorance of the facts or the sheer enjoyment of a good moral tale. Finally, some scurrilously use fabrication and misinformation for the purpose of discrediting the Fraternity.