THE OBELISK OF FREEMASONRY ACCORDING TO THE DISCOVERIES OF BELZONI AND COMMANDER GORRINGE. ALSO EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS COMPARED WITH THOSE DISCOVERED IN AMERICAN MOUNDS.
Book Details + Condition: John Bouton (New York). First Edition, 1880. Hardcover with dark green cloth boards; gilt obelisk to front and gilt titling to spine. 174 pages, with Index and 29 pages of publisher advertisements to rear. Illustrated with tissue-guarded frontispiece, and with full-color and numerous b&w line drawings. Author, French-American physician, philologist, and archaeologist John Adam Weisse draws parallels between ancient Egyptian monuments — specifically Cleopatra's Needle — and Masonic symbolism, arguing that the Craft's traditions, geometry, and religious mysteries originated in early Egyptian Sun worship. Chapters include:
- The Obelisk and Freemasonry
- Freemasonry Older Than Obelisks and Pyramids
- Pentalour, Epic on the Battle of Kadesh
- Tomb of Seti I: Commonly Called Belzoni's Tomb
- Belzoni Manuscripts: Drawings, the Hand of a Mummy
- Moses and the Israelites
- Hindu Mysteries
- Dionysian Mysteries
- Mysteries of the Druids
- Arab Masonry
Firm binding; rubbed corners and edges; fading / discoloration to right edge of front board, with a scuff to the rear; chafed spine ends; ex-libris to front paste-down, bookplate to ffep (in addition to a cutout original advertisement for the book) of Charles J. Carlotti, businessman, inventor and collector; his stamp to blank endpaper; another owner's name in pencil to dedication page; toning to interior, with occasional age-spotting; interior is otherwise clean and free of markings. All books are carefully packed, and shipped in boxes.
