Library of the Enlightenment and Freemasonry

Chair:
Joe Wages, The Scottish Rite Research Society
Board of Syndics, Library of Freemasonry and Fraternalism

The PSO has sponsors a number of resources related to fraternal movements and particularly to Freemasonry:

Conference
The international conference convenes in Paris every two years in connection with the The Musée de la Franc-Maçonnerie:
The International Conference on the Enlightenment and Freemasonry

Multimedia
Dozens of recorded conferences, panels, speakers and other associated talks: https://www.ipsonet.org/video-library/multimedia/

Journal
Enlightenment: Ritual, Secrecy, Civil Society, and Freemasonry: https://www.rscsjournal.org/

Catalog
The Westphalia Press Library of Masonic titles, which includes collections of lodge and Scottish degree records:

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 13: Masonic Almanacs and Anti-Masonic Almanacs

Almanacs have been in existence for many years and the word is familiar to most Masons. Everyone at some time or other has either seen, read, or purchased a copy of the Old Farmers’ Almanac which is sold in many supermarts and book stores. Some…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 14B: Making a Mason at Sight

On September 10, 1982, M.W. Bro. Raymond H. Bachman, Grand Master of Masons in Illinois, came to Bloomington and instituted Ancient Landmarks Lodge U.D. Choosing its name presented some difficulties, since most good Masonic allusions, like Acacia, Anchor and Ark, Blazing Star, Charity, Further Light,…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 14A: Bespangled, Painted & Embroidered: Decorated Masonic Aprons in America, 1790-1850

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 14: The Beginnings of Freemasonry in America

Melvin Maynard Johnson (1871-1957) was one of the leading Freemasons of his day and this book has acquired the reputation of being a “Masonic classic.” It has been out-of-print for many years and is appropriately issued during this Bicentennial period of the formation of our…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 12: Three Distinct Knocks and Jachin and Boaz

There have been many books published over the years which claim to be exposures of the Masonic ritual. Some of our members look upon them as mere “curiosities,” others get high blood pressure when they hear about them and urge the Craft to take steps…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 11b: A Masonic Reader’s Guide

This book is addressed to Masons with four types of literary interests: (1) The member who has learned for the first time about the world of Masonic books and wants to know what printed material has been published so he can start to do some…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 11A: Biblical Characters in Freemasonry

Dr. George Oliver has been the most prolific Masonic writer of all times. His many books have covered many Masonic subjects and he was highly regarded in his day. Unfortunately, on a number of occasions he made state ments which have been construed in the…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 11: The Revelations of a Square

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 10: Sufferings of John Coustos

The unparalleled sufferings of John Coustos, who nine times underwent the most cruel tortures ever invented by man, and sentenced to the galley four years, by command of the inquisitors at Lisbon, in order to extort from him the secrets of Free-Masonry; from whence he…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 9: Anderson’s Constitutions of 1738: Anderson’s Constitutions of 1738

The Constitutions of the Freemasons by Dr. James Anderson, published in 1723, is the most famous Masonic book in the world. It has been translated into many foreign languages, has been the subject of considerable examination and comment over the years, and has been reproduced…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 8A: Trestle-Board

The National Masonic Congress which met in Baltimore, Maryland on May 8, 1843 and remained in session for nine days is an important event in the history of Freemasonry in the United States. The professed purpose of the meeting was to bring about a uniformity…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol 8: Samuel Prichard’s Masonry Dissected, 1730

Masonry Dissected by Samuel Prichard, first published in 1730, was an easy book to select for publication by The Masonic Book Club for it has been a Masonic classic for many years. The book has been out-of-print for many years and has been hard to…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 7A: Masonic Symbols in American Decorative Art

When the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasons of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States of America dedicated its new Museum-Library in Lexington, Massachusetts on April 20,1975, two hundred years and one day after Paul Revere’s ride, it gave an outstanding Bicentennial gift…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 7: The Signers of the Constitution of the United States

Many years ago William E. Gladstone, eminent British statesman, described the Constitution of the United States as “the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.” The men who created the document have been described by…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 6: The Signers of the Declaration of Independence

here is nothing quite so vital in this life as a timely idea. Obversely, there is nothing as futile as an idea proposed before people are ready to accept it. The civilized world was ready for Martin Luther when he nailed his ninety-five theses on the front door of Wittenberg Cathedral in 1517; but Galileo, being born fifty years too soon, would have been burned at the stake had he not recanted his theory of a round world in 1632.

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 5A: Masonic Membership of the Founding Fathers

Running through all the events of the founding of our Nation, the desire for Liberty was the one factor that controlled every thought-that motivated every action. As our Founding Fathers watched the gathering storm and experienced the continuous acts of repression passed and practiced by…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol 5: A Serious and Impartial Enquiry into the Cause of the Present Decay of Free-Masonry in the Kingdom of Ireland

This fifth volume of the Masonic Book Club presents material that is rare and not easily accessible to the average Masonic reader. Dr. D’Assigny’s works are not earth-shattering. His literary effort should be read in the light of the days in which he lived. They…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 4: Illustrations of Masonry

Its influence on our ritual structure cannot be overestimated. Brother Callaway speaks of its use in Georgia. Speaking of Illinois ritual, Preston is followed in literally hundreds of phrases. Preston conceived of Masonry as a great educational force. He collected, refined and polished its…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 3: Ahiman Rezon

Laurence Dermott, a pivotal figure in 18th-century Freemasonry, rose from obscurity to become Grand Secretary of the Ancient Grand Lodge in 1752. Dermott, alongside other influential Masonic figures like James Anderson and William Preston, played a crucial role in shaping Masonic history during its period…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 2: The Constitutions of the Free-Masons

Benjamin Franklin’s 1734 publication of The Constitutions of the Free-Masons stands as a landmark in both American printing and fraternal history. Essentially a reprint of Dr. James Anderson’s 1723 original British version, Franklin, who was himself the Grand Master of Pennsylvania at the time, produced…

The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 1: The Regius Poem

THE OLDEST EXTANT DOCUMENT in the world with direct Masonic significance is the poem known as The Regius Poem, sometimes described as the Regius Manuscript or the Halliwell Manuscript. It is believed to have been written around the year 1390; and as indicated in line…

The Masonic Book Club

The Masonic Book Club (MBC) was formed in 1970 by two Illinois Masons, Alphonse Cerza, 33°, and Louis L. Williams, 33°. The MBC primarily reprinted out-of-print Masonic books with scholarly introductions; occasionally they would print additional texts as “bonuses.” Westphalia Press is republishing the series…

Freemasonry in Mexico: A Secret Heritage

In this thought-provoking book, De Los Reyes argues that Freemasonry, through its lodges, played a decisive role in shaping Mexico’s national thought, contributing to the creation of a liberal and secular State and fostering anticlerical sentiments among the laity that endured well into the twentieth…

33° Scottish Rite Masons of the Southern Jurisdiction Who Served in US Congress

Since its founding on May 31, 1801, the Scottish Rite has, like all aspects of Freemasonry, made an impact on America. The Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient and Accept Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction, USA, has been particularly blessed to have had a…

Reprints of Rituals of Old Degrees

Originally printed by Albert Pike in 1879, this enlarged edition includes a variety of important early rituals. In 1789 the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania chartered a lodge in Port-au-Prince, which introduced “Ancient York” Masonry to Saint-Domingue.

Albert Pike’s Magnum Opus: A History and Facsimile Edition of Pike’s First Revision of the Scottish Rite’s Rituals, 4°-32°

In 1855 the Scottish Rite’s “Mother Supreme Council of the World” at Charleston, S.C., appointed a committee of five persons to review and standardize its initiation ceremonies and rituals. Only one person completed the task, 46-year-old Albert Pike who would ultimately become the most influential…

Light on Masonry: The History and Rituals of America’s Most Important Masonic Exposé

The disappearance and presumed murder of William Morgan in 1826, by Masons, set off an intense anti-Masonic period which lasted until ca. 1842. The fraternity, which was once called the “handmaid of religion,” was denounced as an institution of the devil.

The Porch and the Middle Chamber: The Book of the Lodge

Although not widely used in the United States, the Scottish Rite (the largest Masonic system in the world) has a unique type of ritual which is used in more countries than any other.

Cerneauism and American Freemasonry

LES PLUS SECRETS MYSTÈRES des Hauts Grades de la Maçonnerie Dévoilés (The Most Secret Mysteries of the High Degrees of Masonry Unveiled), edited by M. de Bérage, was an exposé published in 1766 and was the first printed book to give the rituals of the…

The Most Secret Mysteries of the High Degrees of MASONRY Unveiled

Masonic Formulas and Rituals: Transcribed by Albert Pike in 1854 and 1855

This never-before-published work includes the complete collection of rituals which Albert Pike received when he joined the Scottish Rite in 1853. After receiving the degrees, Pike borrowed the manuscript rituals, and over the next two years he transcribed his own copies. He later used these…

Exploring the Vault: Masonic Higher Degrees 1730–1800

The study of the development of the ‘Higher Degrees’ after 1730 has, for the past century, failed to produce new insights. Previous research has been geographically narrow or limited to one degree or order and thus failed to offer new insights. The authors decided to…

Étienne Morin: From the French Rite to the Scottish Rite

Étienne Morin: From the French Rite to the Scottish Rite presents a fresh perspective on the ancestor of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the Order of the Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret from the perspective of the founder of the system himself.

Freemasonry’s Royal Secret: The Jamaican “Francken Manuscript” of the High Degrees

Many have heard of the Thirty-third Degree and the Scottish Rite, but lesser known is that it sprung from an equally important Masonic system. Created by the Frenchman Stephen Morin in the 1760s, the 25-degree system known as the “Order of the Royal Secret” used…

The French Rite: Enlightenment Culture

This book, focused on the French Rite, covers the founding principles of the Enlightenment and their influence on the birth of modern Freemasonry as we know it today. The authors revisit the fundamental values of the Enlightenment, from a rational approach to religious tolerance and…

The Perfect Elect: A Transatlantic Adventure the ‘Sharp’ Documents, Volume 1 & 2

The Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite in 33 degrees is the most widespread system of masonic higher degrees worldwide. It was developed in the 18th century, drawing on the most diverse well springs of esoteric traditions and philosophical currents. It is represented wherever Freemasonry is active.

Brethren: Behold Your Supreme Council: Bio-Bibliographical Dictionary of the SGIG and Deputies of the Supreme Council, 33°, Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A

Brethren: Behold Your Supreme Council is a reference volume about the Leadership of the Scottish Rite in the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States from its inception on May 31, 1801, to present time. During these 222 years, 565 Deputies and Sovereign Grand Inspectors General passed…

A Study in American Freemasonry

Arthur Preuss (1871-1934) was a German-American Catholic journalist, editor, and writer. He is best known for his significant contributions to Catholic journalism in the United States and his work as an apologist for the Catholic Church. Preuss was born in Germany and immigrated to the…

ESOTERIKA by Albert Pike: The Symbolism of the Blue Degrees of Freemasonry

Many of the Freemasonry symbols of our rituals are hidden from everyone in the Order. The symbolic degrees are a vault in which secrets and esoteric teachings are enclosed, whose origin and meaning were transmitted orally in antiquity, many of which today have been lost in…

Ancient Mysteries and Modern Masonry: The Collected Writings of Jewel P. Lightfoot

Jewel P. Lightfoot. Former Attorney General of the State of Texas. Past Grand Master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas. From humble beginnings in rural Arkansas, he worked to become an educated man who excelled in law and Freemasonry. He was a gentleman of…

Essay on The Mysteries and the True Object of The Brotherhood of Freemasons: Considerably expanded and corrected from the original in 1776

There is a need for a third edition of Essai sur les mystères. The first English translation (W.H. Reece, 1862) is long out of print and contains errors that may hinder readers’ comprehension of the anonymous 1771 letter it contains. This version, discovered in the Biblioteca…

James Hoban’s Secret Society

James Hoban’s Secret Society is a pocket guide to Hoban’s fraternal legacy. This concise history delineates the opportunity and rise of a skilled immigrant craftsman in colonial America. Hoban’s family-centric approach to his work helped establish a tight-knit group of professional woodworkers who stayed with…

Female Emancipation and Masonic Membership: An Essential Collection

Female Emancipation and Masonic Membership: An Essential Combination is a collection of essays on Freemasonry and gender that promotes a transatlantic discussion of the study of the history of women and Freemasonry and their contribution in different countries such as Cuba, Chile, France, Mexico, Spain,…

The Rosicrucian Philosophy in Questions and Answers

Rosicrucianism emerged in Europe possibly as early as the 1500s. It had numerous influences. As Michael Maier, a Rosicrucian described it, “Our origins are Egyptian, Brahminic, derived from the mysteries of Eleusis and Samothrace, the Magi of Persia, the Pythagoreans, and the Arabs.” During the…

The Spirit Of Masonry

The author, William Hutchinson, F.A.S., passed away on 7th of April, 1814, at the age of 82, after a long career as an attorney, and as an author and devoted Freemason. He penned such works as A History of the County of Durham, A View…

Freemasonry, Heir to the Enlightenment

Modern Freemasonry may have mythical roots in Solomon’s time but is really the heir to the Enlightenment. Ever since the early eighteenth century freemasons have endeavored to convey the values of the Enlightenment in the cultural, political and religious fields, in Europe, the American colonies…

Grand Crosses of the Court of Honour: Concise Scottish Rite Biographical Dictionary

The Grand Crosses of the Court of Honour: Concise Scottish Rite Biographical Dictionary is a commemorative reference volume that provides a brief description about each Scottish Rite Brother awarded the highest honor bestowed by the Supreme Council, 33°.

Masonic Myths and Legends

Freemasonry is one of the few organizations whose teaching method is still based on symbols. It presents these symbols by inserting them into legends that are told to its members in initiation ceremonies. But its history itself has also given rise to a whole mythology.…

A Radical In The East

The papers presented here represent over twenty-five years of publications by S. Brent Morris. They explore his many questions about Freemasonry, usually dealing with origins of the Craft.

Brought to Light: The Mysterious George Washington Masonic Cave

Purchase in greyscale | Purchase in color by Jason Williams MD The George Washington Masonic Cave near Charles Town, West Virginia, contains a signature carving of George Washington dated 1748. Although this inscription appears authentic, it has yet to be verified by historical accounts or…

Washington and His Masonic Compeers

by Sidney Hayden Purchase As Sidney Hayden wrote of this work on George Washington and his Masonic pasts, “Biographies of Washington, and the most eminent of our countrymen who were contemporary with him, have been often written so far as relates to their public acts,…

Storia del Grande Oriente d’Italia (Italian Edition)

by Emanuela Locci Purchase Questo volume è la traduzione italiana di un libro precedente nato con l’intento di colmare una lacuna bibliografica, infatti, fino alla sua pubblicazione non era presente nella letteratura massonica un libro che trattasse in maniera organica la storia della massoneria in…

Worlds of Print: The Moral Imagination of an Informed Citizenry, 1734 to 1839

by John Slifko Purchase Plato, Aristotle, Baron Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau argued that you could never have a democracy bigger than the geographic size, intimate oral habits, and embodied rituals of face-to-face communication, and walking distance of a Greek city-state, French town, or small…

Masonry and Protestantism

by Susanna Hopkins Mason Purchase Social history as a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. It began an upward trajectory as early as the 1930s, but it remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of materials that even…

Annals of the Hobby Club of New York City, 1912-1920

by New York Hobby Club Purchase In 1908, the Hobby Club was established as a gentlemen’s club. Planned to be a space for people to showcase their special interests, the “object of the Club shall be to encourage the collection of literary, artistic and scientific…

Proceedings of the General Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star at its Fourth Stated Meeting, August 17-23, 1883

by General Grand Chapter Purchase Social history as a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. It began an upward trajectory as early as the 1930s, but it remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of materials that even…

An Address Delivered Before the Members of the Anti-Masonic State Convention: Assembled at Augusta, Maine, July 4, 1832

by Moses Thacher Purchase Moses Thacher was born on November 14, 795 in Princeton, Worcester County, Massachusetts. He was frustrated with the growing number of people involved with Freemasonry in his religious community. He felt the oats one swore as part of Masonic ritual were…

History of Saint John’s Lodge of Boston

by Saint John’s Lodge Freemasons Purchase Saint John’s is the oldest lodge in the United States and its social history when fully written will be a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. Fraternal organizations like Saint John’s have impacted…

History of the Grand Orient of Italy

Emanuela Locci, Editor Purchase The initiative to write this volume comes from the need to fill a bibliographic gap: no book in Masonic literature upon the history of Italian Freemasonry has been edited in English up to now. Thus, it aims to cover this lack…

Ritual for Local Camps: Royal Neighbors of America, Auxiliary of the Modern Woodman of America

by Royal Neighbors of America Purchase The early members of the Society were ahead of their time. In addition to providing life insurance for women, they stood firmly behind the women’s suffrage movement. Royal Neighbors was also one of the first fraternal societies to insure…

History of the Fraternal Order of Eagles

by J. Fanning O’Reilly Purchase The Fraternal Order of Eagles is an international fraternal organization that was founded on February 6, 1898 in Seattle, Washington by a group of six theater owners. It was initially composed of those who worked within the performing arts. The…

Why Thirty-Three?: Searching for Masonic Origins

by S. Brent Morris, PhD, Introduction by Wallace E. Boston, Jr. Purchase The papers presented here represent over twenty-five years of publications by S. Brent Morris. They explore his many questions about Freemasonry, usually dealing with origins of the Craft. What “high degrees” were in…

Pioneering in Masonry: The Life and Times of Rob Morris, Masonic Poet Laureate, Together with the Story of Clara Barton and the Eastern Star

by Lucien V. Rule Purchase through Amazon Social history as a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. It began an upward trajectory as early as the 1930s, but it remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of materials…

The Early History and Antiquities of Freemasonry: As Connected with Ancient Norse Guilds, and the Oriental and Mediæval Building Fraternities

by George F. Fort Purchase through Amazon Social history as a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. It began an upward trajectory as early as the 1930s, but it remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of materials…

Foreign Freemasonry: Its Position vis-a-vis of Christianity and of Catholicity

by D. Moncrieff O’Connor Purchase through Amazon Social history as a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. It began an upward trajectory as early as the 1930s, but it remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of materials…

The Masonic Genius of Robert Burns: An Address Delivered in Lodge “Quatuor Coronati,” 2076, 4th March, 1892

by Bro. Benjamin Ward Richardson Purchase through Amazon Social history as a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. It began an upward trajectory as early as the 1930s, but it remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of…

Melodies for the Craft, or Songs for Freemasons Suitable for Every Occasion

by R. Fellow Purchase through Amazon Social history as a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. It began an upward trajectory as early as the 1930s, but it remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of materials that even…

History of Freemasonry in England from 1567 to 1813

by Leon Hyneman Purchase through Amazon Social history as a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. It began an upward trajectory as early as the 1930s, but it remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of materials that…

A Place in the Lodge: Dr. Rob Morris, Freemasonry and the Order of the Eastern Star

by Nancy Stearns Theiss PhD Purchase through Amazon UPDATED EDITION Ridiculed as “petticoat masonry,” critics of the Order of the Eastern Star did not deter Rob Morris’ goal to establish a Masonic organization that included women as members. As Rob Morris (1818-1888) came “into the…

The Great Transformation: Scottish Freemasonry 1725-1810

by Dr. Mark C. Wallace Purchase through Amazon Modern Freemasonry emerged in Britain after 1700 as a prominent fixture in both British communal and social life. It combined earlier stonemason customs and methods of organization with the popular passion for clubs and societies. Some mocked…

The 33 Principles Every Mason Should Live By: The True Meaning of Being a Mason

by C. Fred Kleinknecht Jr. Purchase through Amazon In 1947 Fred took a job at the House of the Temple, literally learning the Scottish Rite from the ground floor to eventually becoming Grand Commander. He was Grand Commander from October 23, 1985 to October 7, 2003.…

Swiss Freemasonry: A Historical Sketch with Organization, Principles and Constitution

by Dr. Bernard Perrelet Purchase through Amazon Social history as a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. It began an upward trajectory as early as the 1930s, but it remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of materials…

The History of the Order of the Eastern Star Among Colored People

by Mrs. S. Joe Brown Purchase through Amazon Social history as a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. It began an upward trajectory as early as the 1930s, but it remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of…

Freemasonry, Politics and Rijeka (Fiume) (1785-1944)

by Ljubinka Toseva Karpowicz Purchase through Amazon LJUBINKA TOŠEVA KARPOWICZ studied sociology and later political science at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Belgrade. She received her Ph.D. from the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Ljubljana in 1987. She…

Masonic Regularity and Recognition: A Global Issue

Roger Dachez, Introduction by Alain Bauer Purchase through Amazon “The issue of regularity and recognition in Freemasonry is examined here from a mainly French point of view, because France is essentially the only major Masonic country in the world where this debate is so complicated.…

Invasions of the Gulf: Radicalism, Ritualism and the Shaikhs

by Paul Rich Purchase through Amazon The Gulf was ruled for a good part of the 19th and 20th centuries from India, and those who served there constituted a unique, small foreign service of their own. Their public (private boarding in American usage) school backgrounds…

Masonic Regularity

by Alain Bernheim Purchase through Amazon Alain Bernheim was born in Paris on May 23, 1931. At twelve he was interned in Drancy under Occupied France. After World War II was over, Bernheim studied at the National Music Conservatory of Paris, and became the first…

Getting the Third Degree: Fraternalism, Freemasonry and History

Editors: Guillermo De Los Reyes and Paul Rich Purchase through Amazon Possibly the most international and diverse scholarly conference on fraternalism and freemasonry is the one held in Paris in the spring every two years at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and hosted by Westphalia…

Dudley Wright: Writer, Truthseeker & Freemason

by John Belton Purchase through Amazon Dudley Wright (1868-1950) was an Englishman who took a universalist approach to the various great Truths of Life, he travelled though many religions in his life and wrote about them all, but was probably most at home with Islam.…

An Introduction to the Formation of Freemasonry in the United States of America: The Constellation of the Brotherhood

by Larissa P. Watkins Purchase through Amazon The Constellation of the Brotherhood is another stellar reference resource by bibliographer Larissa Watkins. It encompasses the developmental history of the Grand Masonic Bodies in the United States for each state… It will be a boon to researchers,…

A General Register of all the Lodges and Grand Lodges of Freemasons: in North America

by J. Fletcher Brennan Purchase through Amazon Social history as a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. It began an upward trajectory as early as the 1930s, but it remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of materials…

A Dictionary of Secret and Other Societies

by Arthur Preuss Purchase through Amazon Social history as a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. It began an upward trajectory as early as the 1930s, but it remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of materials that…

A Historical Account of Columbian Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Boston

by John T. Heard Purchase through Amazon Social history as a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. It began an upward trajectory as early as the 1930s, but it remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of materials…

The Unparalleled Sufferings of John Coustos: The Cruel Tortures to Extract the Secrets of Freemasonry

by John Coustos Purchase through Amazon Social history as a corrective to a historiography is often too limited to diplomacy and wars. It began an upward trajectory as early as the 1930s, but it remains constrained by the frustrating cost and availability of materials that…

History of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers of the City of London: Otherwise the Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass

by Charles Henry Ashdown Purchase through Amazon Despite the name, The City of London is only a small part of metropolitan London, and is further unique in that it boasts of its own government. This centers on the ancient companies, or guilds, which in the…

Freemasonry: A French View

by Roger Dachez and Alain Bauer Purchase through Amazon Perhaps one should speak not of Freemasonry but of Freemasonries in the plural. In each country Masonic historiography has developed uniqueness, but it is safe to say that one of the highest levels of scholarship has been…

Freemasonry in the Holy Land, or, Handmarks of Hiram’s Builders

by Robert Morris, LLD. Purchase through Amazon In 1868, Robert Morris (1818-1888), a sometime grand master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky and founder of the Order of the Eastern Star, gathered a group of Masons for Secret Monitor ceremonies in a cave in King…

Manual of the Eastern Star: Containing the Symbols, Scriptural Illustrations, Lectures, etc. Adapted to the System of Speculative Masonry

by Robert Macoy Purchase through Amazon The secret cyphers and ritual books of the Eastern Star as well as of other fraternal societies inevitably make their way to the shelves of antiquarian book dealers. Efforts to get families to return documents and regalia when a…

Elixir of Empire: The English Public Schools, Ritualism, Freemasonry, and Imperialism

by P. J. Rich Purchase through Amazon A companion volume, Chains of Empire: English Public Schools, Masonic Cabalism Historical Causality, and Imperial Clubdom, is the second in P. J. Rich’s trilogy about schooling as a political force. Explored are the ways in which the history…

Chains of Empire: English Public Schools, Masonic Children, Historical Causality, and Imperial Clubdom

by P. J. Rich Purchase through Amazon The British Empire’s and the English public schools’ peculiar system of rituals and rewards had more in common than has been realized. In Chains of Empire, Paul Rich related this to controversies about historical causality, morphic resonance, chaos,…

Masonic Poems

by Masonic Service Association US Purchase through Amazon Masonic poems can be maudlin or marvelous, but critics must concede that Rudyard Kipling and Robert Burns cannot be accused of being amateurs. In short, the poetry of Freemasonry is a very mixed bag. It often is…

Plain Thoughts on Secret Societies

by John Lawrence Purchase through Amazon John Lawrence (1824-1899) was a historian of the United Brethren churches and an abolitionist. When he wrote Plain Thoughts there was a clear consensus among his fellow believers that Freemasonry was insidious and diabolical. But in 1889 the United…

Freemasonry’s Research Agenda

by Margaret C. Jacob, Preface by Paul J. Rich Purchase in Print Perhaps it should not be surprising that a secret society remains something of a secret. A telling comment made on several occasions by Pierre Mollier, the librarian of the Grand Orient or…

The Symbolic Tradition of Freemasonry

Edited by Pierre Mollier Purchase This volume, full of significant work on Freemasonry and kindred subjects, is the result of a bold effort to make the best in articles about fraternalism appearing in tonguesother than English available to the English-speaking scholarly world. The productivity and…

Challenges Facing Freemasonry

by John L.L. Cooper III, Preface by Paul J. Rich Purchase through Amazon | Purchase on CreateSpace Secrecy and ritualism often go together, although for many societies the secrecy is no longer as strong as it once was. However, ritual remains one of their major…

Stories for the American Freemason’s Fireside

by C. W. Towle Purchase through Amazon This is a collection of stories intended to be morality tales for Masons and their admirers. Numerous nineteenth century writers saw a market for fiction whose intention was to inculcate the values of a popular, redefined Freemasonry. The result…

Ritual and Secrecy Confront Reality

Edited by by Pierre Mollier, Daniel Kerjan, Yves Hilvert-Messeca, and Carter Charles Purchase through Amazon This special issue of Ritual, Secrecy and Civil Society, among other things, questions explores the ways in which the secret initiatory societies interface with political and social history. It would be…

Fiat Lux: Full Score, Parts Included

Composed by by Gregory Thomas Woolford Martin Purchase on Amazon (Fiat Lux: Full Score, Parts Included) | Purchase on CreateSpace Purchase on Amazon (Fiat Lux: Piano & Vocal Score) | Purchase on CreateSpace Gregory Thomas Woolford Martin has composed for small and large ensembles, electronica, choir,…

Between Conflict and Conformity: Freemasonry During the Weimar Republic and the “Third Reich”

Authored by Ralf Melzer Translated by Glenys A. Waldman Purchase through Amazon | Purchase through CreateSpace Freemasonry during the Weimar Republic and the ‘Third Reich’…One might ask, “Is that a chapter of forgotten persecution or a legend of persecution?” After extensive research in archives in…

Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia – 1898

by John P. Sheiry Purchase through Amazon | Purchase through CreateSpace The Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia is not the grand lodge for the United States, but at times because of its site it has national importance. The election of Brother William McKinley as…