‘Freemasonry has not had a good press recently; James Stevens Curl’s book redresses this balance, describing the role of Freemasonry in Europe during the Enlightenment, and its contribution to music, architecture, and landscape design... The book is magnificently illustrated and has a useful glossary. It puts in context a movement which has left a great legacy of architecture and design...’ Hermione Hobhouse in The Architects’ Journal (19 June 1991)

‘This book defines clear limits to an inquiry which might quickly become otherwise lost in the much larger and broader topics that in fact do inform its structure: the obscure yet historically significant traditions, ways of thinking, symbolic languages, metaphysical and alchemical mysteries et al that constitute the imaginative and inspirational primordial soup out of which, incidentally, Freemasonry arose. An introduction to this material and a sketch of how it survived the Enlightenment to enter the modern consciousness as social engineering is the undeclared centre of this book. Getting started on this material is clearly Dr Curl’s main objective – Freemasonry is a kind of locational talisman for his brisk review of the paradigms of alchemical, neoplatonic and Hermetic or Egyptian speculation. His work in this regard is very impressive. To the reader to whom all or aspects of such material is largely new, this book presents a clear and eminently readable survey. One will come to see in relatively clear obscurity, for example, the pathways and linkages between the art of memory, universal harmony, the cults of Isis and the Virgin Mary, the prototype of the Temple, the geometry of sundials ... and so on. The twist ... is the way in which this extraordinary and lyrical display contrives in a systematic way to uncover through the rational basis of Enlightenment and later programmatic architecture the development of the idea of art and architecture as the effective vehicle of social and political reform ... the belief in the efficacy of architecture as an agent of moral reform, as Dr Curl clearly demonstrates, is a recurrent theme throughout the Renaissance, particularly in Giordano Bruno, and in various aspects of the Protestant Reformation. Dr Curl traces ... transformations both in masonry itself and in its art and architecture admirably. In the process he brings together quite an amazing wealth of material, a significant amount of which has not been published before.  The ... sections on landscape gardening and the origins of the modern cemetery involved typical Curlian themes, developed, it should be said, with customary vigour. This is a highly entertaining book that is a cornucopia of idiosyncratic anecdotes. The author clearly has a passion for revealing the high cultural origins of the prosaically modern.’ Richard Patterson in Building Design (6 September 1991)

‘It is extremely valuable for its superb illustrations, many of which are not readily available elsewhere. The book is ... beautiful. unusual, and ... useful.’ Wallace McLeod in The Royal Arch Mason Magazine (Winter 1991)

‘It is rare to be able to welcome an important new book on an entirely new subject. After many years research ... Professor Curl has developed a wholly new interpretation ... In his book, written with passion and scholarship Curl reaches ... exciting conclusions. This stimulating book is beautifully written, richly documented, and handsomely produced with numerous illustrations in colour and black and white. Every student of eighteenth-century European culture should read it and ponder its many implications’. David Watkin in Apollo (December 1991)

‘For me, the most thought-provoking architectural book of 1991 is James Stevens Curl’s The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry (Batsford £45). Curl proposes an entirely new interpretation of eighteenth-century neo-Classical architecture, garden design, and even music, in terms of a masonic style.’ David Watkin in The Architects’ Journal (4 December 1991) 55

‘The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry is an important book dealing with a subject that has intrigued many but has also received only scant attention or sensational treatment. The most valuable aspect of it is the wealth of illustrative material ... The glossary is extremely clear and useful and there is a full bibliography’. Colin Amery in The Financial Times (12 August 1991)

‘What a delight to welcome a scholarly, but eminently readable, text on a new subject so beautifully produced and copiously illustrated! The thoroughness of Professor Curl’s research is amply demonstrated by the select bibliography and the lucidity and cogency of his writing. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in the cultural influences on the development of Freemasonry and the effect of Masonic ideals on the development of European culture. Professor Curl, modestly, describes his book as an introduction to the subject, stimulated by his interest in, and previous study of, the European fascination with Egypt and the various Egyptian revivals in the history of taste. He has more than matched his intention and has not only provided much material for thought but also lines for future research. The ... section...on Egypt (is) the most satisfying and stimulating part of the book. The continuing masonic fascination with Egyptian themes is amply demonstrated by the very detailed Egyptian decorations of lodge rooms as far apart as Edinburgh, Philadelphia and Sydney; supremely so in the purity of the Egyptian style of the external architecture of the Masonic Hall built in Boston, Lincolnshire, between 1860 and 1863. With clarity Professor Curl takes us through the literary antecedents of the eighteenth-century Egyptian revival, the major influence of Mozart’s Magic Flute and other stage designs and the spread of Egyptian idea, into masonic and public architecture. Meticulous in everything, Professor Curl is very much aware of reading too much into allusive references and avoids the pitfalls into which many other writers, masonic and non-masonic, have fallen in the past. This is an important study which I would recommend to anyone interested in the arts and the history of ideas. Professor Curl describes his work as an introduction; I hope that we shall see further studies from his pen- perhaps a study of the effects of neoclassicism on American masonic architecture at the turn of the century? At £45 the book might appear expensive. It is not. Up to the usual high standard expected of Batsford it is a visual delight, superbly produced. The illustrations alone, particularly the designs for buildings never built, are a delight to the eye and a challenge to the intellect’. John M Hamill in Ars Quatuor Coronatorum. Transactions of Quatuor Coronati Lodge/2076 104 for the year 1991 (1992)

‘After reading Curl’s book on Freemasonry one wonders whether there was any artist of note in the eighteenth century who was not in some way concerned with Masonic ideas. Curl deals with the entire history of Freemasonry right into the twentieth century. But eighteenth-century France – as one might expect –takes up a substantial number of his pages. His book is an immensely useful, and sane, introduction to a field often fraught with speculative sensationalism. Curl’s book is a mine of information, to take the area of eighteenth-century French gardens as just one instance... The Masonic an occult world of the eighteenth century is indeed strangely interwoven. Curl’s book is a fascinating introduction to it’. David Irwin in The British Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, published by the Voltaire Foundation in Oxford (Spring 1993)

‘The erudite yet easily comprehensible text, combined with the copious and well-chosen illustrations and the very high standard of printing and production make this new book a pleasure to read from all points of view’. Masonic Square (December 1991)

‘This book completes an overlapping trilogy – with A Celebration of Death and The Egyptian Revival – in which Curl has looked at some-of the more exotic and esoteric aspects of European Neoclassicism... The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry is beautifully produced, reads easily, and is handsomely illustrated. Tapping Masonic as well as architectural sources, Curl has produced many unfamiliar pictures...’ Frank Kelsall in Newsletter 45 of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (Winter 1991)

‘This is a generous book, lucidly ordered, incisively and imaginatively written, with abundant, high-quality illustrations. James Stevens Curl presents Masonry’s history and central legends: Its Renaissance associations in Scotland and England (since Stevenson’s work, I agree, in the right order); Solomon’s Temple as archetype (he is masterly on the design of the Karlskirche); Masonic affinities in eighteenth-century architecture; Egyptian lore and Mozart’s Magic Flute; elegiac gardens and early cemetery and commemorative designs (with Egyptianisms among his persisting enthusiasms); and modern Masonic building...Much here is valuable...’ Jay MacPherson in Royal Institute of British Architects Journal (June 1992) 25

‘one likes to think of scholars as courageous, adventurous individuals, resolute in their search for truth. But there are two subjects in particular which scholars tend to avoid: mysticism ... and secret societies. The latter, by their very nature, are difficult to research; rumour abounds and documentation can be unreliable... None the less, there have been excellent models for such investigations ... and now James Stevens Curl has offered us an explanation of the artistic and architectural influence of the Freemasons. Such a book is long overdue. The importance of Freemasonry in social history has long been recognised, as has the presence of a distinct and recognisable visual symbolism, that can be found in places as varied as gravestones .... The Magic Flute, and the Great Seal of the United States. But there has hitherto been no publication that draws together these diverse threads and allows one an overview of the development and dispersion of Masonic motifs in art and architecture. Any future attempt to assess the development of the landscape garden on the Continent will have to take ... (this book) ... into account. If the jardin anglais or anglo-chinois was an imitation of English models, why did the Continent not follow the English line of development, leading to the simplified Edenic landscapes of Capability Brown? Why the heavy emphasis on tombs and symbolic garden buildings, to the extent of seeming a discordant clutter to an English eye? ... If the landscape garden is seen in terms of the image of Nature, its Continental manifestations are, and have often been regarded as, somewhat unsatisfactory. Professor Curl’s interpretation in terms of Masonic tradition makes better sense of the Continental landscape than the previous accounts I have found. It also reveals a curious blind spot in the work of previous historians of the subject: once the Masonic symbolism in Goethe’s Wahlverwandtsschaften has been spelled out, it become astonishing that (other) works could ignore the issue. Professor Curl deserves our thanks for having opened the subject up, and any future studies on the Continental landscape garden and on the emergence of garden cemeteries will have to take his work into account’. Brent Elliott in Garden History xx/2 (Autumn 1992)

‘.... a huge and handsome volume... (which) ... postulates ideas that will set the traveller and historian thinking. (The book) is one that is likely to remain the standard work. Curl explores the symbiotic links between Freemasonry and the Enlightenment... The author is to be congratulated on his unique and innovative work’. R Llewellyn-Jones in Chowkidar, vi/5 (Spring 1993)

‘Curl…. has… provided a fascinating entire history of freemasonry and its manifestations in art and architecture. He modestly subtitles it “An Introductory Study”, so does not make claims for its completeness. Curl gives Vidler full credit for his work, but goes far beyond him, first in providing a thorough and learned history of freemasonry through the ages (more complete than Yates’s study) and then by discussing such recurring themes as the Temple of Solomon, medieval guilds and Mason’s tools, the hermetic tradition, and the concern with ancient Egypt… An invaluable glossary of Masonic terms and of words with implications for Masonry is not only a major contribution but evidence of the author’s thoroughness. In the introduction and throughout the book the excellent, unusual, and well-chosen illustrations not only enrich the text but amplify it by the very complete explanations published beneath them. It is this part of the book in which Curl makes his greatest contribution. In the succeeding chapters the author proceeds by a skilled combination of chronological and topical approaches to discuss subjects such as the legends of the two columns or pillars, the story of Hiram and the building of the temple, and the mysteries… This is followed by excellent summaries of freemasonry during the Renaissance and of the Temple of Solomon and its influences on such architects as John Wood and J. B. Fischer von Erlach. In all these, Curl describes overt and covert Masonic symbolism. On the whole he is very convincing… Perhaps the most valuable chapter for architectural historians is that devoted to Masonic design and architecture in the eighteenth century. This includes a discussion of works built specifically for Masonic purposes such as lodges, as well as those influenced by or exhibiting Masonic symbolism… The book concludes with a useful summary that poses the question “Is there a Masonic Style?”… One must remember that this fascinating and provocative work is merely a beginning. Curl has laid a firm foundation and brilliantly illuminated the history of freemasonry…’ Thomas J. McCormick in Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians liii/4 (December 1994) 494-5

‘In this fascinating work Professor Curl manages to blend two opposing tasks: his book satisfies all the demands of scholarship yet, by virtue of extensive illustrations and elegant prose, it also addresses the different demands of a general reader who wishes not only to understand a wider perspective but to embark upon an intellectual journey. Curl casts his net widely: and what a rich and extraordinary history he presents. The book is a gift to Freemasonry, revealing and explaining the wide heritage of Masonic architecture and symbolic design. It is an unsurpassed achievement and can be read with pleasure by both professional scholars and those who simply enjoy the fascination of discovery.’ Michael Baigent in Freemasonry Today, 22 (Autumn 2002) 56