The Obelisk and Freemasonry According to the Discoveries of Belzoni and Commander Gorringe. Also Egyptian Symbols Compared with Those Discovered in American Mounds.

John A. Weisse (1810-1888) was an American physician, philologist and archaeologist with interests in both Freemasonry and ancient Egypt. The focus of this treatise is the connection between Freemasonry and Henry Honychurch Gorringe's discovery of Masonic emblems on the obelisk known as Cleopatra's Needle. At the time of writing the "Needle" was in the hold of the S. S. Dessoug on its way to New York's Central Park. Gorringe and Giovanni Battista Belzoni, Italian archaeologist, believed that secret societies akin to Freemasonry predated construction of obelisks and pyramids in Egypt, as evidenced by the Masonic carvings on the "Needle." 34 p. of publisher's ads at rear. Note bookplate designed by James Jervis Blomfield (1879-1951), Canadian artist and designer best known for his design of the coat of arms of Vancouver. Also note tiny label for Willing & Williamson, who were at 10-12 King St., Toronto as early as the 1870s.