Working the rough stone
Subtitle: freemasonry and society in eighteenth-century Russia
By: Douglas Smith.
Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press
Published: 1999
Place of publication: DeKalb, Ill
Language: eng
Number of pages: 257
Subjects: Freemasonry -- Russia -- History -- 18th century.; Enlightenment -- Russia.; Russia -- Intellectual life -- 18th century.; Russia -- Social conditions -- To 1801.
Description: Using a wealth of archival sources previously unavailable, this first study of eighteenth-century Russian Freemasonry to appear in English examines the Masonic lodges and their meaning for the men who were drawn to them. As some of the earliest organizations in Russia to open membership beyond social class, the lodges offered the opportunity for social interaction, personal discipline, and a free exchange of ideas.

Teaching new standards of civility and politeness, they helped to prepare the way for the birth of a civil society in Russia.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [185]-247) and index.