Who Is Your Favorite Masonic Author?

[brothersteve]

I'd love to hear some suggestions of good Masonic authors.

[Tamrin]

Jun 9, 2009 6:14:37 GMT 10 brothersteve said:

I'd love to hear some suggestions of good Masonic authors.

Thanks Bro. Steve and welcome,

Good question. The historiography of early masonic authors tends to fall short of our modern standards and may need to be read with caution: Gould, who helped found the so-called "authentic school" of masonic research, is more reliable than most but his work is not easy to read (Mackey's later works are pretty good). Wilmshurst is fine with the elementary philosophy (Pike goes deeper but is more speculative).

Of our relatively modern authors I'd say: For a sound, level-headed approach, Bernard E. Jones (Freemasons' Guide and Compendium); for historical insight, Paul Naudon (The Secret History of Freemasonry); for philosophical/psychological interpretation, Kirk MacNulty (Freemasonry: Symbols, Secrets, Significance); for fictional allusions, Rider Haggard (She & its sequels, King Solomon's Mines, The Brethren, and Queen Sheba's Ring); for best short paper, Leo Zanelli, (A Pragmatic Masonic History).

The whole corpus of Masonic historical literature rivals in size—if not exceeds—the collection
of works devoted to the history of any major country during the same period (1717-1990)

Alexander Piatigorsky, Freemasonry: The Study of a Phenomenon, 1999, p. xiii

[neilwynesmorse]

Bro Philip suggested:
"for historical insight, Paul Naudon (The Secret History of Freemasonry)"

... an author who, in his preface, talks about 'the appearance of the grand lodges at the beginning of the seventeenth century'.

Spare me; either the author or the translator got it badly wrong.

What else is right in the book?

NWM

[Tamrin]

I would be surprised if the error was Naudon's. The text has been translated by another (originally published as, Les origins de la Franc-Maçonnerie: Le sacré et le métier). Errata happen: Consider, for example, the "Wicked Bible" in which we were commanded, "Thou shalt commit adultery."

I committed a similar error in preparing for a talk last Friday night at the Victorian Lodge of Research, when referring to Desaguliers' last appearance in Grand Lodge, I found I had written 1941 instead of 1741. I hope the rest of my paper wasn't discredited because of that typo.

[jmd]

Personally, I consider Naudon's work some of the best around.

Certainly it is not fail-proof - but then, neither are ANY of the other excellent authors mentioned!