This edition brings together the earliest known Masonic document, the Halliwell Manuscript—also known as the Regius MS.—with a comprehensive historical and textual study by Albert G. Mackey, one of the most respected Masonic historians of the 19th century.
Dating from the late 14th or early 15th century, the Halliwell Poem is composed in rhymed Middle English verse and comprises 794 lines. It presents a moral and professional code for operative masons, as well as a legendary account of the origin of the Craft, distinct in structure, symbolism, and tone from later prose manuscripts known as the Old Charges. The poem is notable for its Catholic character, its invocation of the Virgin Mary, and its unique inclusion of the Legend of the Four Crowned Martyrs—patron saints of the German stonemasons, or Steinmetzen—suggesting a continental European origin.
In his introduction, Mackey offers:
A structural and linguistic analysis.
A theory of the poem’s composite origin, likely assembled from two earlier sources.
A comparative study of the Halliwell’s content with other Masonic manuscripts from the 16th and 17th centuries.
An in-depth discussion of the evolution of religious doctrine in Freemasonry, from medieval Catholicism to Enlightenment universalism.
