When I read Stephen Flowers little book about the Germanic origins of Freemasonry in which he refers to this title, I figured I needed to look for it. I do not remember if I forgot or just did not find it, but the recent reminder (see the comment under the Flowers title) made me look (again). The book proves to be available in a Kessinger photographic reprint (1998). Not cheap (these Kessinger books never are) and of course also available online on a few places, but I decided to get myself a copy. Fort’s book is a quite typical Masonic history book of the late 19th century drawing all kinds of connections to antiquity, but a fresh angle is Fort’s idea that the ancient European North contributed to the history of Freemasonry. However he does not really respect the ancient barbarians, he gives them full credit for some important elements of Masonic symbolism. According to Fort the route was Christianity took over pagan elements and Freemasonry got them from there. In Fort’s view, paganism is one of the sources of Freemasonry. His details are not groundbreaking or completely new (nowadays) and do not really suggest continuity, but it is nice to hear this from this corner. Flowers’ little book mostly seems a summery of parts of Fort’s work now, by the way.
1884/1998 Kessinger publishing, isbn 0766101304