Symbolism of Freemasonry (1869)

Albert G. Mackey was a nineteenth-century American physician, Masonic scholar, and prolific writer who devoted much of his life to organizing and interpreting the traditions of Freemasonry.

Published in 1869, The Symbolism of Freemasonry examines Masonry not simply as a collection of ceremonies, but as a system of ideas expressed through symbols, legends, architecture, ritual, and allegory. Mackey traces themes from the ancient mysteries and Solomon’s Temple through the working tools, the Hiramic legend, the Lost Word, and the search for truth.

His purpose is less to provide literal history than to explore what these traditions were intended to teach about God, humanity, morality, death, immortality, and the building of the inner temple.