France - Document - Convocation originale pour le 12 octobre 1807

Original summons of the Union lodge, in the Orient of Paris, for October 12, 1807. It is an invitation to a Masonic meeting with initiation and banquet. [Franc-Masonry — First Empire]. Summons of the respectable lodge of the Union. Paris, printed by Gillé fils, 1807. A single quarto leaf printed on the recto, filled in by hand, with a manuscript signature of the secretary, appearing to read “Bouchot.” Beautiful composition in types mimicking handwriting, within an ornate typographic frame. At the top, a radiant delta bearing the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, surrounded by clouds. Established on the 2nd day of the 8th month of the year 5807, i.e. October 2, 1807, this summons announces a meeting on October 12, 1807, at “three o’clock in the afternoon,” at the lodge premises, 8, rue du Vieux-Colombier, Faubourg Saint-Germain. The program includes “affiliation, reception to the 1st degree and banquet.” Brethren unable to attend should return the summons before the 8th of the month to Brother Eber, 76, rue Montmartre. The text invokes “Peace, Honesty and Equality” and the “sweetness of Fraternity.” An interesting document for the daily life of a Parisian lodge under the Empire, preserving its handwritten notes and the secretary’s signature. Old folds, slightly browned paper, small tears and marginal irregularities; print is clearly legible. The verso is blank, with a pencil annotation. The mention “Gillé fils” corresponds to the printer and type founder Joseph-Gaspard Gillé (1766–1826), identified by the BnF.

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