Customer Reviews

Freemason's Guide and Compendium, New and Revised Edition

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a somewhat heavy read about Masonry. However it appears to be accurate, without all the mysterious "hype" that often-times accompanies such books. Good reading for Masons and non-Masons alike. One can read it like a novel, but it is also very useful as a Masonic reference source. It was, of course, written by a well-known British Masonic author over 50 years ago, but it ties in American Masonry very well, and is not 'out of date'.

Bernard E. Jones (1879 - 1965), a Freemason of fifty years, living in Sussex, England, was widely recognized as a great authority on the history, beliefs and symbols of Freemasonry. In the "Freemason' Guide and Compendium" Worshipful Br. Jones has given us a most excellent and detailed reference to the Craft.

The "Freemason' Guide and Compendium" was first published in 1950, and is very well-written and amazingly detailed.

The book is divided into six main sections:

1-Operative Masonry and the London Company
2-Speculative Masonry
3-The Grand Lodges (1717 - 1813)
4-The Craft Degrees and Other Matters
5-The Lodge and Many Related Subjects
6-The Royal Arch, Mark Masonry, and Additional Degrees

There are also 31 illustrated plates, and numerous other illustrations throughout the text.

There is so much in the "Freemason' Guide and Compendium" that it is difficult to describe the breadth of its content, and yet for all its amazing content Worshipful Br. Jones continues to hele, conceal, and never reveal an. o. t. scs. ars. prts. o. r. pnts. of. th. hdn. msts. o. fmy.

For any Master Mason the "Freemason' Guide and Compendium" is an essential addition to his personal library and to that of the Lodge.

An absolutely outstanding book!

Highly Recommended!

For the serious Freemason , seeking accurate information , this title is the best one to have... if you can only havre one book, buy this one.
The recent new printing is a very good quality.
I am recommending it to all who come into my study circles.

This book is thorough, and excellently composed for those across the Pond, but it is decidedly less thorough when it comes to the markedly different and distinct allegories and traditions of American Lodges. If you are interested primarily in historical aspects of the Craft, then this book is still of considerable value. For more information on our uniquely American practice of Freemasonry, additional resources will be needed.

In short, it is an outstanding piece on the historical lodges, and our ancient brethren. For the cowans who will try to glean any of the Light reserved for the Initiated, you will be disappointed. There be no "secrets" here.

Fraternally,
KW

Freemason' Guide and Compendium by Bernard E Jones

This wonderful reference book was first published in 1950 and the latest edition was published in 2006. A book that has been in more or less constant reprint for almost 60 years tells you something about the need for such a reference and its ability to meet a continuous demand.

At first sight the book looks a little daunting at over 600 pages, but don't be put off by that: it's not a book that's intended to be read from the beginning to the end in one continuous study. Rather it is a book to dip into and savour. The author has included a very good list of contents and a detailed index. Almost all that you could ever want to know about Freemasonry, albeit from a very UGLE perspective, can be found therein.

The book is divided up into six main parts: Operative Masonry and the London Company of Freemasonry; How Speculative Freemasonry came into being; the early English Grand Lodges; our Craft Degrees; our Lodges, Lodge officers, Regalia, paraphernalia and festive boards; and Royal Arch, Mark and other Degrees.

As I write this review I am being constantly distracted and side-tracked by this wonderful compendium - I almost wrote companion, for that is what this book could quickly become. You spot something on a page, follow it up in the index, check it out against another reference book, then back here by which time you have started another thread - a little like the World-Wide Web, but on paper.

One thing that caught my eye was about smoking in Lodge. Jones tells us that at one time smoking in the Lodge was quite common, but that the Lodge of Antiquity had a rather complex bye-law determining when Brethren could and couldn't smoke. The Grand Lodge of York in 1725 (and, yes there is a whole section on this early rival Grand Lodge) said in its rules that "The bowl shall be filled at the Monthly Lodge with Punch once; Ale, Bread and Cheese, and Tobacco in common; but if any more shall be called for by any Brother, either for eating and drinking, that Brother shall pay for it himself, besides his club (his share of the cost of the common board)."

This book is spending less and less time on my bookshelf and more and more time on my desk. An essential for any Masonic scholar.

Exactly what I hoped for. Excellent history and reference. Received in like new condition. Even standard shipping was fast and efficient!

This is not a quick read by any means. This will take anyone a while to get through. It is a very interesting speculation of how operative masonry became speculative masonry. This is written by an Englishman who has spent years preparing for this book and even though it was first published in the 50's, it is quite relevant today. I highly recommend it. It provides a number of insights to the origination of some of the arcane words we use today.