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- FREEMASONRY : Some Basics & a Partial Bibliography
- --------------------------------------------------
- The earliest known use of the word "freemason" is
- encountered in the London Assize of Wages, 1212 CE.
- The first reference to a Mason's Lodge is found in
- 1277, and to "Freemasonry," in an English building
- contract of 1436.
- The oldest Masonic Document is the Regius MS.,
- circa 1390. the first use of the word "Freemason" in
- print was in 1563, in a book entitled 'Dives Pragmaticus.'
- The first extended printed account of Freemasonry
- appears in Plot's 'Natural History Of Staffordshire',
- Oxford, 1686, pp. 316-18. The first Masonic book is
- known as the "Roberts Constitutions," printed and sold
- by J. Roberts in London, 1722. The first Official
- Masonic book is Anderson's 'The Constitutions of the
- Free-Masons', London, 1723, of which Benjamin Franklin
- (a Mason) published a reprint in Philadelphia in 1734,
- it being the first American Masonic Book.
- The first duly constituted Lodge in America was The
- First Lodge of Boston (still in existance as St. John's
- Lodge), constituted July 30, 1733 by Henry Price of
- Boston. The first native-born American to be made a
- Mason was Jonathan Belcher, born in Boston in 1681, and
- made a Mason in Europe in 1704. He was governor of both
- Massachusetts and New Hampshire from 1730 to 1741.
- Just slighly shy of one half of the 56 signers of the
- Declaration of Independence were Masons; 31 of the 55
- Delegates to the Constitutional Convention were Masons;
- so were many of Washington's Generals.
- Promiment famous masons of History include: Paul Revere,
- John hancock, Joseph Warren, George Washington, James
- Monroe, Andrew Jackson, James K. polk, James Buchanan,
- Andrew Johnson, James A. Garfield, William McKinley,
- Theodore Roosevelt, WIlliam Howard Taft, Warren G. Harding,
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon Baines
- Johnson and Gerald R. Ford.
-
- PUBLIC LIBRARY BOOKS
- --------------------
- These are books available from Macoy Publishing & Masonic
- Supply Co., PO Box 9759, Richmond VA 23228 and are evidently
- available in many libraries across the country.
-
- Freemason's Guide and Compendium. Bernard E. Jones.
- What Masonry Means. William E. Hammond.
- A Comprehensive View of Freemasonry. Henry Wilson Coil.
- Famous Masons and Masonic Presidents. H.L. Haywood.
- The Builders. Joseph Fort Newton.
- Introduction to Freemasonry. Carl H. Claudy.
- The Great Teachings of Masonry. H.L. Haywood.
- House Undivided : The story of Freemasonry and the Civil
- War. Allen E. Roberts.
- Freemasonry Through Six Centuries (2 vols). Henry WIlson
- Coil.
- The Craft and Its Symbols. Allen E. Roberts.
-
-
- MASONIC BIBLIOGRAPHY : THE NOT-SO-EASY-TO-FIND-BOOKS!
- -----------------------------------------------------
- Many of the following books are not as easy to find as
- those I mentioned in my last post on the subject, either
- they are extremely rare in the public sector or in many
- cases long out of print except internally to the
- organization itself. This list is in no way a complete
- listing of books on the subject - The internally used
- library (such as that in The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts)
- is huge in comparison and includes books, news clippings
- and internal records not accessable to the public by any
- known means. These books here actually represent what
- American Freemasons use as a preliminary reading list for
- candidates for the degrees within Masonry.
-
- Anderson's Constitutions of 1723. 1924.
- Bailey. The Spirit Of Masonry. 1957.
- Baird. Great American Masons. 1924.
- Banner. These Men Were Masons. 1934.
- Bede. 5-15 Minutes Talks. 1972.
- Blake. Masonic Lodge Methods. 1953.
- Boston. Saint John's Lodge. history of Saint John's Lodge of
- Boston. 1917.
- Brown. Freemasonry in Virginia (1733-1936). 1936.
- Highlights of Templar History. 1944.
- The Fourth Gospel and The Eighteenth Degree. 1956.
- Carter. Masonry in Texas. 1955.
- Cerza. A Masonic Thought For Each Day of The Year. 1971.
- Chailley. The Magic Flute, Masonic Opera. 1971.
- Claudy. Introduction to Freemasonry. [3v] 1953.
- A Master's Wages. 1924.
- Foreign Countries. 1925.
- Old Tiler Talks. 1925.
- Masonic Harvest. 1948.
- The Old Past Master. 1924.
- The Master's Book. 1935.
- Coil. A Comprehensive View of Freemasonry. 1954.
- Freemasonry Through Six Centuries. 1966.
- Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia. 1961.
- Coulton. Medieval Faith and Symbolism. 1958.
- Darrah. The Evolution of Freemasonry. 1920.
- Denslow. Freemasonry in the Western Hemisphere. 1953.
- Masonic Rites and Degrees. 1955.
- Freemasonry and The American Indian. 1956.
- Deutsch. From Whence Came You? 1958.
- Everskull. The Temples in Jerusalem. 1946.
- Foss. Three Centuries of Freemasonry in New Hampshire. 1972.
- Glick. A Treasury of Masonic Thought. 1953.
- Gould. The Concise History of Freemasonry. 1924.
- Military Lodges. 1899.
- Hall. The Lost Keys of Freemasonry. 1931.
- Hammond. What Masonry Means. 1939.
- Harvey. "Not Made with Hands". 1958.
- Haywood & Craig. A History of Freemasonry. 1927.
- More About Masonry. 1948.
- Masonic Essays. 1963.
- The Newly-Made Mason. 1948.
- Symbolic Masonry : an Interpetation of the three degrees.
- 1923.
- The Great Teachings of Masonry. 1923.
- Famous Masons. 1944.
- Hills. The Freemason's Craft. 1932.
- Horne. King Solomon's Temple in the Masonic Tradition. 1972.
- Hughan. The Old charges of British Freemasons. 1895.
- Hunt. Some Thoughts on Masonic Symbolism. 1930.
- Hunter. A Study of an Interpretation of the Regius Manuscript,
- The Earliest Masonic Document. 1952.
- Johnson. The Begining of Freemasonry in America. 1924.
- One Common Purpose. 1937.
- The Lure of Freemasonry. 1936.
- Jones. Freemason's Guide and Compendium. 1950.
- Kidd. Early Freemasonry in Williamsburg Virginia. 1957.
- Knoop & Jones. The Genesis of Freemasonry. 1947.
- Introduction to Freemasonry. 1933.
- The Medieval Mason. 1967.
- Lanier. Masonry and Citizenship. 1921.
- Lawrence. Sidelights on Freemasonry. 1909.
- Highways & By-Ways of Freemasonry. 1924.
- The Keystone and Other Essays on Freemasonry. 1913.
- The Perfect Ashlar and other Masonic Symbols. 1912.
- Lindsay. The Scottish Rite for Scotland. 1958.
- MacBride. Speculative Masonry : Its Mission, Its Evolution
- and its Landmarks. 1914.
- Mackey. Symbolism of Freemasonry. 1921.
- Mackey's Masonic Jurisprudence; 10th ed. 1927.
- Encyclopedia of Freemasonry.[3v] revised and supplemented
- by Robert I. Clegg and H.L. Haywood. 1946.
- Martin & Callaghan. The Treasury of Masonic Thought. 1924.
- Masonry and Americanism. 1924.
- Morse. Freemasonry in the American Revolution. 1924.
- Museum of Our National Heritage. Masonic Symbols in American
- Decorative Arts. 1976.
- Nettl. Mozart and Masonry. 1957.
- Newton. Modern Masonry. 1924.
- The Builders : a Story and study of Masonry. 1951.
- Short Talks on Masonry. 1928.
- The Men's House. 1923.
- The Great Light in Masonry. 1924.
- The Three Degrees and Great Symbols of Masonry. 1924.
- The Religion of Masonry. 1927.
- Oppenheim. The Jews and Masonry in the United States Before 1810.
- 1910.
- Perry. Masonic Addresses. 1938-40.
- The Masonic Way of Life. 1968.
- Pick & Knight. The Pocket history of Freemasonry. 1969.
- Pike. The Meaning of Masonry. 1924.
- Poage. Masonic Meditations. 1925.
- Poole. The Old Charges. 1924.
- Pound. Masonic Addresses and Writings. 1953.
- Lectures on Masonic Jurisprudence. 1924.
- Robbins. English-Speaking Freemasonry. 1930.
- Roberts. The Craft and its Symbols. 1974.
- Roth. Masonry in the Formation of our Goverment. 1927.
- Roy. Stalwart Builders, a History of the Grand Lodge of Masons
- in Massachusetts 1733-1978. 1980.
- Dare We Be Masons. 1966.
- Shepherd. The Landmarks of Freemasonry. 1924.
- Snodgrass. The History of Freemasonry in Tennessee. 1944.
- Steiner. Masonry Illustrated. 1953.
- Steinmetz. Freemasonry : Its Hidden Meaning. 1948.
- The Lost Word : Its Hidden Meaning. 1953.
- The Royal Arch : Its Hidden Meaning. 1946.
- Stewart. Symbolic Teachings; or, Masonry and Its Message. 1923.
- Street. Symbolism of The Three Degrees. 1922.
- Tatsch. Short Readings in Masonic History. 1926.
- Free Masonry in the Thirteen Colonies. 1933.
- The Facts ABout George Washington as a Freemason; 1932.
- Taylor & Beach. Historical Sketch of the Grand Lodge of Masons
- in Massachusetts from its beginings in 1733 to the
- present time. 1973.
- Vibert. Freemasonry Before the Existance of Grand Lodges. 1916.
- Voorhis. Masonic Rosicrutian Socities. 1958.
- Vrooman & Roberts. Sword & Trowel. 1964.
- Ward. Freemasonry : Its Aims and Ideals. 1923.
- Wiest. Freemasonry in AMerican COurts. 1958.
- Wilmhurst. The Meaning of Masonry. 1922.
- Wright. The Ethics of Freemasonry. 1924.
- Robert Burns and His Masonic Circle. 1929.
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