Lewis Masonic
Lewis Masonic is a British publishing company specialising in works on and for freemasonry. Originally called "A Lewis", the name was a pseudonym for John Hogg, who was a Scottish Freemason from Edinburgh who was living in London.
Founded in 1801, it is the largest and oldest Masonic publisher in the World. Lewis Masonic is well known to English Freemasons, as Lewis produces many of the ritual books used by United Grand Lodge of England lodges and Holy Royal Arch Chapters.
Originally the company focused on ritual books, minute books and other products for use in Lodges. Nowadays, Lewis Masonic is an imprint of Ian Allan Publishing (having been acquired in 1973), and has expanded its publishing to reach a broader audience. Lewis Masonic also publishes The Square, which is England's longest-running Masonic magazine.
The company takes its name from that of a lewis, which in freemasonry denotes a freemason brought into the fraternity by his father; it also alludes to the lifting appliance of the same name which is an item most useful for both operative masons and speculative Masons. Lewis Masonic was named after these "lewises" because it was created to support Freemasonry as the other lewises support others, both actual and philosophical.