This is volume one of four. This very rare and long out of print biographical work is a must for any Mason with a desire for Masonic research. This is NOT a photocopy of the original work, but a completely new, re-type set edition. While a few editorial changes have been made the work is for the most part as it was when first published. The largest change is the addenda that was at the end of the 4th edition. The addenda was a collection of corrections and additions to the work. We have incorporated the corrections and additions into the work itself removing the need for the addenda. DON'T FORGET: This is a FOUR book set with each book sold separately. The ISBNs are: 1887560319, 1887560793, 1887560424 & 1887560068.
This "Dictionary" was compiled at the request of the publisher from materials accumulated by the undersigned during a thirty-three years' career as an editor. It is intended for the information of Catholics, especially the reverend clergy, among whom there has long been a demand for a reliable reference work on the subject of secret and other societies into which Catholics are liable to be drawn. For obvious reasons all specifically Catholic societies, as well as, societies consisting exclusively of Catholics and having the ecclesiastical approbation, have been excluded. On the other hand it has not been deemed wise to draw the lines too narrowly, but for the sake of completeness a large number of organizations have been included which are neither secret nor even quasi-secret, but purely beneficial, civic, patriotic, and so forth. The difference in the length of the various articles is not always owing to reasons of larger or smaller importance, but to the amount of information obtainable. While the compiler has circularized all the societies listed in this book, so far as he was able to ascertain their addresses, not all of the respective officers have responded to his questionnaire, and among those that did, not all gave the information desired.