Between 1723 and 1819, two rival Grand Lodges of England published their rulebooks or Constitutions. During this period you would buy a book without a cover. So if a book had an illustration beside the title page, called a frontispiece, the book would be more valuable. As a result there were six frontispieces created for the Grand Lodges’ Constitutions.
Decoded: Freemasonry’s Illustrated Rulebooks shows how freemasons used the frontispiece to communicate messages. It shows how they were a propaganda tool in the rivalry between the Grand Lodges. You can decode these frontispieces for yourself, and learn about the Grand Lodges and the artists behind them.
