The World culture: The exhibition “300 years of Masonry” in Moscow

June 7, 2017 in the Rumyantsev Hall Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library (Moscow) is opened an exhibition dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the creation of modern Freemasonry.

The Department of Manuscripts is one of the most significant centers, where original documents are kept, revealing different aspects of the activity of Masonic lodges. It is no coincidence that precisely on the basis of these manuscripts Leo Tolstoy in his novel "War and Peace" told about this phenomenon of the life of society through the chapters devoted to the Freemasonry of Pierre Bezukhov and the personality of his mentor Bazdeyev.

The department of manuscripts of the Russian State Library stores more than five thousand manuscript books and unique archival documents that show the spiritual aspirations of freemasons, the influence of Freemasonry not only on the cultural, but also on the political life of different countries.

The exhibition includes various thematic sections: "The origins of Masonic ideology", "The emergence of higher degrees and the formation of various systems of Freemasonry", "Rosicrucians of the XVIII-XIX centuries and the circle of N. I. Novikov", "The flourishing of Freemasonry at the beginning of the XIX century", "The emergence of political Trends in Freemasonry. Masons and the Decembrist movement", "The temporary ban on Freemasonry and its revival as a political force in the early XX century", "The role of Russian Freemasonry in emigration", "The resumption of Masonic work in the modern world", "Elements of Masonic life by the example of its attributes".  

During the preparation of the exhibition, materials from private collections were drawn for the last three sections of the exhibition, which will be demonstrated for the first time.