Images copyright and with permission of the Trustees of the Soane Museum
Professor Campbell is currently acting as a Soane Scholar at the Soane Museum, cataloguing for the first time Soane’s drawings for the Freemasons. Freemasonry and architecture have been explored by scholars such as Anthony Vidler, Joseph Rykwert and James Steven Curl who have sought to show that Freemasonry played an important part in 18th century architectural thought. Soane has often been cited as an example. Professor Campbell’s research into the archives of both the Freemasons and Soane’s own records provides a fascinating insight into both the strange world of late 18th century Freemasonry and Soane’s relationship with it. The research has already led to one article and is expected to lead to a major article reassessing Soane’s relationship with Freemasonry in an architectural history journal.
Publications:
James W P Campbell, ‘Sir John Soane and the Freemasons: the New Temple and the Lost Ark’ in Soane’s Ark: Building with Symbols (London: Factum Foundation for Technology in Conservation, September 2017) ISBN 978-84-697-4855-8, pp. 32-49.