The funding texts of freemasonry might be classified upon two categories: the old charges from operative masonry, which state the rights and duties of the mason guilds from the middle-ages, and the masonic catechisms, which make use of the symbolism of the trade but are entirely speculative
There exists yet another category, among historical documents, which, even if it is sensationalist, constitutes, nonetheless, a valuable testimony to speculative freemasonry in its early stages: it is the "exposures", or disclosure of masonic rituals, confessions by alleged freemasons revealing rituals, signs and passwords.

William Preston was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, August 7th (old style calendar, July 28th), 1742. The exact date of his initiation is not known, but it occurred in London in 1762 or 1763.
From 1765 to 1772 Preston engaged in personal research and correspondence with Freemasons at home and abroad, endeavoring to learn all he could about Freemasonry and the arts it encouraged. These efforts bore fruit in the form of his first book, entitled: "Illustrations of Masonry," published in 1772. He had taken the old lectures and work of Freemasonry, revised them and placed them in such form as to receive the approval of the leading members of the Craft.
Preston's work was exceptionally influential. It has been suggested that Preston's Illustrations was, together with the Book of Constitutions, one of the books owned by virtually every lodge in England. Preston's reputation as a historian has not, however, fared well in recent years, largely because of his supposed credulity in accepting the Leland-Locke letter and in adhering to the theory that the split between the Antients and the Moderns was due to a secession by the Antients.

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