Alexander B. Davis Masonic lecture.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Author/Creator:

Davis, Alexander B.

Contributor:

Kaplan, Arnold Harvey, 1939- donor.

Kaplan, Deanne, donor.

Arnold and Deanne Kaplan Collection of Early American Judaica (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Hebrew

Subjects (All):

Freemasons. Jamaica.

Freemasons.

Jews--Jamaica--History.

Jews.

Freemasonry--Rituals.

Freemasonry.

Genre:

Lectures.

Notebooks.

Manuscripts, English -- 19th century.

Penn Provenance:

Sold by Kestenbaum & Company (New York, N.Y.), 11 January 2024, lot 162

Purchased for the Penn Libraries in 2024 by Arnold and Deanne Kaplan (Kestenbaum & Co.) (Collectify no. 2024.01.26.00005; 13.2029).

Physical Description:

1 volume (21 leaves) ; 23 x 19 cm

Production:

Kingston, Jamaica, circa 1854-1861.

Language Note:

In English, with some words in Hebrew.

Biography/History:

Alexander Barnard Davis, born in London in 1828, was the leader of the Kingston (Jamaica) Jewish community from 1854 to 1861 and the Sydney (Australia) Jewish community from 1862 to 1903; although never ordained, he was frequently referred to as a rabbi; he was initiated into Masonry and raised to Master Mason, the third degree, in 1850 in London and continued to be an active Mason in Jamaica, but does not seem to have continued in Australia (Lanchidi).

Summary:

An untitled and unsigned lecture on the third degree of Freemasonry (Master Mason), and the ceremony associated with raising a candidate to that degree. A reference to "the lectures upon the two previous degrees" (p. 4) suggests that this is one in a series. The lecture includes biblical citations and words written in Hebrew (for example, p. 3, 6-10). The lecture is written in a blank notebook with a detached front cover with the printed title At the Rev'd. A. B. Davis's Academy, Synagogue House, Kingston, Jamaica enclosed in a foliate oval topped by a rondel with an image of a globe, a compass, and pens in an inkwell, with books on either side. The back cover is missing. The notebook has 20 leaves and is paginated in ink by the author, 1-25, 28-40 (the missing numbers are a pagination error), beginning on the verso of the first leaf.

Notes:

An image of an identical Davis Academy notebook cover, described as a "front free endleaf," appears in Peter Lanchidi, “A Kabbalistic lithograph in Australia,” Australian Journal of Jewish Studies 34 (2021), 188-233, fig. 8.

Cited as:

Alexander B. Davis Masonic Lecture (MS 56, Codex 048.1). Library at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania.

OCLC:

1422293462