What did the Museum of Freemasonry in London put on show most recently?
The Museum of Freemasonry in London staged the temporary exhibition "1723 – Inventing the Future", which ran through December 2023 to celebrate the tercentenary of James Anderson's landmark publication, *The Constitutions of the Free-Masons*, according to the Museum of Freemasonry's official website and reporting by *The Past*.
Among the featured artefacts displayed during the exhibition was a specialized box holding the miniature Masonic working tools that belonged to Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, as recorded by *The Past*. The exhibition also showcased a setting maul traditionally attributed to the renowned architect Sir Christopher Wren. Additionally, visitors were able to view a personal copy of the original 1723 edition of the Constitutions owned by John, 2nd Duke of Montagu, who served as the first noble Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England.
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Where can a researcher consult original Masonic manuscripts in Britain today?
Original Masonic manuscripts in Britain are preserved across major national repositories, university archives, and specialist institutional libraries.
The Museum of Freemasonry at Freemasons' Hall in London maintains the archives and collections of the United Grand Lodge of England, holding historic original manuscript rolls of the Old Charges, including the manuscript designated Grand Lodge No. 1, according to the Museum of Freemasonry's official website.
The British Library in London holds key medieval Masonic documents, including the Regius Poem (also known as the Halliwell Manuscript) under shelfmark Royal MS 17 A I, as well as the Matthew Cooke Manuscript catalogued under Additional MS 23198, as recorded by the British Library.
University libraries also preserve significant historical documents. The Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford holds early modern Masonic manuscript records within its historical collections, notably including the Rawlinson manuscript collection, as noted by the Bodleian Library. In the north of England, the John Rylands Library at the University of Manchester houses the Manchester Masonic Research Collection, which contains deposited historic manuscripts and rare volumes, according to the University of Manchester Library.
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Each opens a thread of its own.
- What are the Old Charges in Masonic manuscript tradition?
- Where is the Regius Poem held and what is its history?
- What collections are preserved at the Museum of Freemasonry in London?
This answer was written by AI from the works cited above. AI can make mistakes — please verify anything that matters against the source itself.