Clymer and the book · Lexicon

From the book

Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry

R. Swinburne Clymer · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Orientation

At a Glance

The wordR. Swinburne Clymer is the named author and organizing voice of the 1907 book.
In Ancient Mystic Oriental MasonryThe opening explains that the book was ordered, claims the highest authorities for its teaching, and says credit is given for quotations unless they were changed.
In this editionThe shortened headword is editorial.
A place to readT.1: “Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry. Its teachings, Rules, Laws and Present Usages which govern the Order at” …

Meaning

R. Swinburne Clymer is the named author and organizing voice of the 1907 book. The work combines quotation, interpretation, initiatory narrative, and regulations.

Use in the book

The opening explains that the book was ordered, claims the highest authorities for its teaching, and says credit is given for quotations unless they were changed. Clymer’s own interventions identify Mystic Masonry as an existing order with an inward work beyond familiar ceremonies. The title page links him with Rosicrucian and philosophical writing. His editorial voice is therefore part of the argument: it tells the reader how authorities and institutions are to be understood.

Places to read

Historical Title Page (1907)“Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry. Its teachings, Rules, Laws and Present Usages which govern the Order at the present day. “True Masonry and the Universal Brotherhood of Man are One.” By Dr.” …
Original Introduction · Block 1… “Masonry. True, many a thing, especially what concerns Mystic Masonry, has not been given to a profane people, but this is not to say that it is new, for it is” …
Original Introduction · Block 2… “authorities in the world, and that which concerns Mystic Masonry comes direct from him who knows and who has no superior in this work.”
Original Introduction · Block 3“I also know that I will not be accused of stealing, for the very good reason that I give credit for every single quotation, unless it was changed. With these facts” …
Original Introduction · Block 14“In a work of this nature, not too much can be said as regard the Supreme Initiation, and those who may be truly interested I would refer to "The Rosicrucians; their” …

In this edition

The shortened headword is editorial. The title-page transcription regularizes capitalization and punctuation; quoted body passages retain the established reading text.

Reading the argument

The claim to authority is a feature to examine, not a substitute for examining it. Follow transitions between named quotation and authorial assertion. A confident introduction can explain the author’s purpose without guaranteeing every historical statement that follows.

Clymer

“Clymer” — 2 occurrences in 2 text blocks: T.1; Ded.2.

Mystic Masonry

“Mystic Masonry” — 40 occurrences in 38 text blocks: I.1–2, 5, 12, 15, 20–22, 30; M.1, 24, 31, 36, 42, 46, 61; F.17, 31; S.20, 26; R.3–4, 6, 15, 23–24; N.37, 41–43, 46–47, 54, 56, 60–61, 63, 88.

Oriental Masonry

“Oriental Masonry” — 8 occurrences in 8 text blocks: T.1; I.20; M.15, 27; R.5, 13; N.36, 80.