Lectures of the Arya

Louisville, Kentucky: Supreme Council, 1930. Limited to 700 copies of which this is number 347. Publisher's leather. Quarto (10" x 7-1/2"). 332, 333-340 index. 16 one-sided pages typed on a typewriter that are within the binding between pages numbered 228-237, leather corners starting, wear and rubbing to edges. A good copy.

The contents in this book are from a manuscript written by Albert Pike in quill that he finished in 1878, and in effort to preserve Pike's legacy the Supreme Council published the manuscript in print for members of their organization. Only 700 copies were printed, each one going to its own selected member. Although the book was by the Freemason Supreme Council, it is not of Masonic ritual text, instead it reflects Pike's lifelong interest in comparative religion. It became part of the intellectual background that influenced works such as Morals and Dogma.

Albert Pike was an American author, poet, orator, editor, lawyer, jurist and Confederate States Army general. In 1858 he became the Sovereign Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite. Pike represented the various Native peoples in several lawsuits against the American government (Cherokee, Creek, and Choctaw) in order to ensure they were treated fairly, studied religions and mythologies across the world. Prior to the Civil War, Albert Pike encouraged the South to seek equality with the North and only seceding if political means failed. Once war was inevitable, Pike was established as the liaison to the Native People and was instrumental in encouraging the Cherokee nation to support the Confederacy with the understanding that the Cherokee would be granted a sovereign nation of their own. Later in life, Harvard offered Pike an honorary degree which he declined. Albeit his actions, Pike still had a mixed history regarding race as a whole and even supported radical race groups at the time.