William Preston (1742–1818)

Image credit: Museum of Freemasonry

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Notes

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William Preston (1742–1818) was a printer and Masonic author, who in 1772 published a book called 'Illustrations on Masonry', which highlighted the philosophical nature of Freemasonry through a series of lectures. The book was reprinted several times throughout the nineteenth century and helped to organise Freemasonry in the United States. In 1777 Preston was asked to revise the constitutions of the Grand Lodge of England, one of two governing bodies of Freemasonry in England in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century. In 1779 an argument over this work led Preston to form a short-lived breakaway grand lodge with other members of the Lodge of Antiquity, now No. 2, one of the oldest Masonic lodges in England. This painting is on loan from the Lodge of Antiquity No.

Museum of Freemasonry

London

Title

William Preston (1742–1818)

Date

c.1810

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 43 x W 35 cm

Accession number

AT14.2

Acquisition method

on loan from the Lodge of Antiquity No.2

Work type

Painting

Inscription description

WILLIAM PRESTON (1742-1818) W.M., Lodge of Antiquity, No. 1 (now No. 2) 1744. Founder of Prestonian lectureship. Buried in St. Pauls Cathedral. By Samuel Drummond, A.R.A., 1810. On loan from Lodge of Antiquity, No. 2.'

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Museum of Freemasonry

Freemasons' Hall, 60 Great Queen Street, London, Greater London WC2B 5AZ England

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