1275

"The Masons on the Mountains" Virginia City Broadside (113184)

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Paper Start Price:100.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 - 400.00 USD
 The Masons on the Mountains  Virginia City Broadside  (113184)
SOLD
325.00USDto 6*****b+ buyer's premium (81.25)
This item SOLD at 2020 Apr 16 @ 17:20UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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We've never come across this before. It came to us in the large Comstock Masons archive we're selling in this sale. It is titled "The Masons on the Mountains." Below the title, it says "From the Virginia (Nev).) Territorial Enterprise, Sept. 9, 1875." The text describes an unusual meeting of Virginia Lodge No. 3 upon the top of Mount Davidson (the mountain Virginia City sits on). It describes how the masons lost their Masonic Hall to a fire the previous May, and when they then started sharing the IOOF hall, that also burned the week before. The tragedy of this situation is that a little over a month after this meeting, Virginia City had its biggest and most devastating fire in October 1875! The text describing their new "lodge" is poetic: "Its dimensions from east to west embraced every clime from north to south. Its covering was no less than the cloudy canopy..." They also describe the jewels worn by the officers: "They were made of Ophir bullion in the year 1863...the fire of last Friday morning found them in the hall of the Odd Fellows...they were mourned over as lost, but were finally dug out of the ashes nearly perfect...some of those recovered had portions melted away, but there is enough left to show the original design and to carry the identity on down to future generations." 18 x 13" Folds. Armstrong (Nevada Printing History Vol. 1) says this piece was printed as a way of raising money to build their new lodge. It was printed on paper and silk. It was also reprinted in 1892.

Provenance:
Country (if not USA):
State: Nevada
City/County: Virginia City
Date: c1875