Originally published in 1879, this book was also known as "Handmarks of Hiram's Builders." It is a collection of notes from the author's Masonic research in 1868 in Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Europe as well as from correspondence with Masons from those countries. It was written to be a book for the average reader, a reference book for the scholar, and a handbook for the traveler. Rob Morris became a Freemason in 1846 and was the author of the rituals of The Order of the Eastern Star. In 1884, he was named the Poet Laureate of Freemasonry, which was an honor not granted since the death of the famous Masonic poet Robert Burns.