Sketch for the History of the Dionysian Artificers, a Fragment

Sketch for the History of the Dionysian Artificers, a Fragment, published in 1820, was an attempt to prove that modern Freemasonry derived from ancient Greek philosophical and religious ideas. Hippolyto da Costa was a Brazilian journalist, author, Freemason and world traveler. He was imprisoned for being a Freemason by the Inquisition in Portugal in 1802 and escaped in 1805. He later settled in London and wrote a two volume book about his experiences, Narrativa da Perseguição, in 1811. He went on to start the first Brazilian periodical, the Correio Braziliense or Armazém Literário for which he is known today as "the founder of the Brazilian Press".

The original is extremely rare and was scanned from a reprint by the Philosophical Research Society Press dated 1936, which notes that it was "made possible through the courtesy of the Masonic Grand Lodge Library at Cedar Rapids, Iowa".