Freemason's Guide and Compendium

by Bernard Edward Jones, J. Heron Lepper (Foreword by)

First published in 1950, the 'Freemasons' Guide and Compendium' is filled with authentic, detailed information on a wide variety of subjects related to masons and masonry. Written by an experienced Freemason with the interests of rank-and-file members of the ordinary lodge in mind?especially the young Craftsman who wished to learn the nature of Freemasonry's claim to have a history that goes back to ancient days?it provides key facts about masonic history, tradition, and lore. In doing so, the book offers a far greater scope of information than any other comparable book. And Bernard E. Jones critically examines conflicting ideas about how some of the traditions came to be, coming to conclusions of his own.

644 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1950

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guide was recommended by my mentor during my EAM degree.
I found it to be a comprehensive account of Freemasonry for the time period of around 1600-1850 with a reasonable amount of ancient history presented as well.
This account is strictly factual and does not contain any opinions or sidebar stories. It is well researched, possibly to a fault as the material came off as a little dry.
It is worth noting before reading that as the 1700's roots of Masonry are European, so is the focus of most of this book. If you are not familiar with old English culture it can be difficult to follow along.
I would recommend reading some higher level overview books before this one if you are new to the Craft as there was a tendency to go into great details about specifics without the basic information included. This left me running to Google on a regular basis. Otherwise lots of good info you can use to impress your Lodge buddies.

[Tom Hendrickson]

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