Berman Ric: "The Foundations of Modern Freemasonry: The Grand Architects - Political Change and the Scientific Enlightenment, 1714-1740"

The study of the controversial origins of freemasonry has attracted increasing academic and popular attention in recent decades. For instance, in David Stevenson's The Origins of Freemasonry: Scotland's Century, 1590-1710 (1998), Margaret Jacob's The Origins of Freemasonry: Facts and Fictions (2006). In his doctoral thesis entitled 'The Architects of Eighteenth-Century English Freemasonry, 1720-1740' (University of Exeter, 2010), Berman sought to re-examine this well-studied phase of British freemasonry. Having compared the thesis to the book under review, the two are essentially the same apart from some minor modifications such as the rearrangement of some sections, the title and the addition of portraits. Although this is the first book by the author, he bravely questions and refines the interpretations of noted authorities on the subject.

Berman aims to illuminate both academics and his fellow freemasons about the eighteenth-century political and social origins of English freemasonry by drawing on largely unexplored primary sources, many of which have recently become available in digital archives. Following in the footsteps of Margaret Jacob, he provides strong evidence for the pro-Hanoverian and Whig affiliations of many influential freemasons who had close associations with the government.
Berman's first chapter sheds new light on the so-called 'transition theory' con- cerning the evolution of freemasonry from the emergence of the medieval operative lodges to the 'spiritual' or 'speculative' (the distinction between the two is not defined) 'Free and Accepted Masonry' of the early eighteenth century. This ancient debate in the historiography of freemasonry entirely depends on the definitions of the terms 'freemason(ry)' and 'speculative'. The author contends that the formation of Grand- Lodge Freemasonry cannot be regarded as a revival or natural extension of the seventeenth-century 'Acception'. His second chapter concentrates on the background and education of John T. Desaguliers, the self-promoting 'Homo Masonicus'. Berman's image of the prime mover of institutionalized freemasonry clearly differs from that of Audrey Carpenter in her recent book on the Newtonian physicist: John Theophilus Desaguliers: a Natural Philosopher, Engineer and Freemason in Newtonian England (Continuum, 2011). Berman's third chapter, which is undoubtedly the most innovative and ground-breaking part of the book, investigates the careers and political connections of Desaguliers' masonic collaborators and examines for the first time the extensive networks of the London magistracy, especially the members of the Westminster and Middlesex benches. Berman identifies a number of magistrates as freemasons and argues that the pro-Hanoverian and pro-establishment facets of Grand LodgeFreemasonry were crucial to its success (p. 93). The following chapter sheds new light on the well-known connections between the Royal Society and freemasonry. It also considers how the members of other professional societies such as the Royal College of Physicians and the Society of Antiquaries were involved in this pro-Whig masonic nexus. He then looks at how the personal, governmental and military networks of the aristocratic Grand Masters influenced and shaped the public image of the fraternity. Berman's last chapter is concerned with the contribution of freemasonry to the 'scientific Enlightenment' by analysing how Desaguliers popularized Newtonian science in private lectures and demonstrations.
Berman joins those eighteenth-century scholars who prefer to place a defining adjec- tive before the general concept of the Enlightenment. These days it is fashionable to talk about, among many others, Benedictine, Arminian, Super and Citra Enlightenments. I have some reservations about Berman's own invention, 'the scientific Enlightenment', especially when it is used in the context of the British Enlightenment. Due to the work of Roy Porter, Margaret Jacob, John Gascoigne and Paul A. Elliott, just to name but a few, we know that science and (the) Enlightenment were strongly interwoven in eighteenth-century Britain. The new scientific methods and discoveries, popularized by the heroes of this book such as John Desaguliers and Martin Folkes, essentially contributed to and became an integral part of the culture of the Enlightenment.
The author provides brief biographies of many well-known and lesser-known free- masons such as George Payne. At certain points the reader has the feeling that s/he is reading a biographical dictionary. When reconstructing the memberships of masonic, scientific, judicial, intellectual and military networks, the author sometimes gets bogged down in unnecessary details. I would suggest providing elaborate accounts of what family members inherited according to the wills of freemasons such as Payne (p. 74) is irrelevant to the overall argument of the book.
In the appendices, we find useful information for further research such as the list of military lodges and the masonic membership of selected professional societies. It would have been helpful if the first appendix on the Grand Officers of the Grand Lodge of England, 1717-40 had also included lists of the Senior and Junior Grand Wardens, Grand Treasurers and Grand Secretaries of the period.
Berman's book is not devoid of typographical errors or inaccuracies, for instance, David Stevenson's name is misspelled five times (pp. 65-66, 321) and the precise title of Andrew Prescott's farewell lecture given at the University of Sheffield in 2007 is 'A History of British Freemasonry, 1425-2000' (p. 9). As regards the format, the layout of the text and the reproduction of the images are of a high quality. However, there are some sections (e.g. William Jones and William Stukeley) that start with a one-line half sentence at the very bottom of a page (p. 107) which is unfortunate from a layout perspective.
Overall, this thoroughly-researched and well-written book contributes considerably to the contextualization of early English freemasonry in the broader political, social and scientific milieu. Berman's work, based on his doctoral thesis, is not meant to be an introduction to the study of English freemasonry. Still, it will be an indispensable work on any university course on the subject, especially at graduate level, and should be required reading for amateur masonic historians in order to dispel the long-established myths about the apolitical and neutral nature of their fraternity.

© Equinox Publishing Ltd 2014.