In Review

Authors: John Belton and Roger Dachez. Westphalia Press, 2024. 978-1-63391-948-8 (paperback) 414 pages, US$27.25 - https://amzn.asia/d/1459fkE

Taking advantage of the digital age’s easier access to early Masonic Grand Lodge-era publications and other documents, Exploring the Vault: Masonic Higher Degrees, 1730–1800 aims to reconsider the evolution of Masonic higher degrees during a formative period in European Freemasonry. This volume presents numerous challenges to entrenched narratives about the development of Masonic ritual in the eighteenth century.

One such narrative is the enduring claim, most prominently put forward by Harry Carr in The World of Freemasonry, that the years between 1730 and 1760 represented a period of relative dormancy in English Masonic ritual development. Belton and Dachez consider this view incomplete. They assert that the period in question was, in fact, one of considerable innovation and experimentation, marked by the rise and diffusion of additional Masonic degrees—most notably the Holy Royal Arch, the Templar workings, and a variety of Écossais systems—across Britain and continental Europe.

A significant portion of their argument centers on the impact of Samuel Prichard’s 1730 Masonry Dissected. This publication, quickly translated in Europe, arguably seeded the development of numerous higher degrees. The authors trace how this work, and the movement of itinerant Masons, such as members of the Union French Lodge No. 98 of the Grand Lodge of England, contributed to a rapid exchange of ideas and ritual innovation across borders.

The book covers the Harodim of Kilwinning, Royal Arch Masonry in both England and Ireland, and various continental manifestations of Écossais degrees. Particularly valuable is the authors’ effort to reconstruct these developments not as isolated national phenomena, but as components of a broader, transnational cultural exchange within eighteenth-century Freemasonry.

With some exceptions, Belton and Dachez are not content to rely on oft-repeated positions or secondary interpretations, although several questionable assumptions of Masonic history writing appear. One example is the casually-tossed accusation against James Anderson, suggesting he had “proclivities to add words and extend footnotes” in order to “extract the most remuneration for his task.” Although Belton and Dachez steer away from this position at that particular point, it implies that this is generally a proven motivation of Anderson. There are also passages in which the arguments presented are too quick and lack demonstrated reasoning. One such statement is found in the sixth chapter, where Dachez and Belton state that The Book M, a fascinating pocket companion published in 1736, “emphasizes that the [M]asonry worked in Durham was much more oratorical, much more concerned with morals and ethics than in London.” In what way is that conclusion drawn? Was there really a lack of emphasis on morals in London Masonry? How might this supposed contrast be demonstrated in the literature? Such a statement, certainly, should require the support of referenced argumentation.

Despite such methodological shortcomings, Exploring the Vault synthesizes a wealth of early material that has long been neglected. For researchers, historians, and serious students of Freemasonry, this is a recommended resource that both deepens and broadens our understanding of the Craft’s ritualistic complexity. Reviewed by WBro Shawn Eyer June 2025