This early work by Arthur Edward Waite was originally published in 1921 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'A New Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry' contains a wealth of information on notable Masons, key dates in Masonic history, various rites, and other aspects of Freemasonry. Arthur Edward Waite was born on the 2nd of October, 1857 in America. Waite was a scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. As his biographer, R.A. Gilbert described him, "Waite's name has survived because he was the first to attempt a systematic study of the history of western occultism - viewed as a spiritual tradition rather than as aspects of proto-science or as the pathology of religion."