Charles T. McClenachan, 33 , Grand Master of Ceremonies of the Supreme Council for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, originally compiled this work in 1884 as a Monitor or Guide to the rituals, ceremonies, instructions, and symbolism of all the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Its publication provided an unprecedented level of detail concerning the rituals associated with each degree, which up to this time existed in private collections. As a contemporary of Albert Pike, who had actively and recently revised the rituals used in the Southern Jurisdiction, McClenachan provides the Masonic student a valuable glimpse into not only the degree work for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in this era but some of the elements of Scottish Rite ritual that predate Pike's revisions and expansions. Above all, it was McClenachan's sincere hope that this work might thoroughly and justly render the beauty and sublimity of the Rite.