Code: bookrevs.mar

                     DR. S. BRENT MORRIS, 33
         BOOK REVIEW EDITOR FOR THE SCOTTISH RITE JOURNAL

        have always enjoyed using the Oxford English Dictionary 
and being led down little used paths on the way to the definition 
I sought.  However, as much as I enjoy the OED, I have never 
bought one--it's too expensive, too big and too specialized for 
my small home library, which I try to stock with just the 
essentials.
       This month we review two books and a new Masonic magazine.  
The books are probably too specialized for most home libraries, 
but would make nice additions to a larger Lodge or Valley 
library.  The periodical, though, is a treat, an essential that 
everyone should have.

THE BLUE LODGE NEWS, Louis A. Cashmer, Editor, published six 
times per year, subscriptions provided at no charge to anyone 
requesting one (however, contributions to help defercosts are 
gratefully accepted), P.O. Box 3163, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106.
       You have the opportunity to read history being made with 
The Blue Lodge News:  the launching of a new national magazine 
for all Masons.  As its title suggests, the publication is 
targeted on the Blue Lodge, and its lively mixture of Masonic 
news, notes, and biographies of national interest--plus ideas and 
comments on programs that can be successfully implemented in your 
own lodge--will certainly hit its mark.
       A unique feature of the magazine is the cost of 
subscription:  there is none!  Readers of The Blue Lodge News are 
invited to send in whatever they think it's worth, and the 
publisher is happy to trust their honesty and judgement.  Where 
can you find more sincere Masonic idealism, and how can you pass 
up an opportunity like this?  Start your subscription without any 
cost (though at least $10.00 per year would be welcome, I am 
sure), profit through reading the magazine, and then decide 
exactly how much you want to pay.
       Publication of The Blue Lodge News began with the 
March/April 1989 issue, and the fourth one has just been 
delivered.  The subscribers have doubled with each issue, and the 
magazine's self-imposed first milestone is to reach 10,000 
readers.  Its writing is crisp, upbeat, and inviting, and anyone 
interested in Masonry, whether Blue Lodge or other, should be 
subscribing to The Blue Lodge News.


THE GOLDEN GAME by Stanislas Klossowski de Rola, 320 pp., 532 
illustrations, hard bound, ISBN:  0-8076-1200-6.  $45.00 from 
George Braziller, Inc. Publishers, 60 Madison Ave., NewYork, NY 
10010.
       The period from roughly 1550 to 1700 was a time of great 
ferment in Freemasonry, when our rituals, legends, and traditions 
were born.  Our modern fraternity may have evolved from remnants 
of the cathedral builder's guilds, or perhaps gentlemen designing 
a club could have found some merit in adopting the forms of an 
earlier organization.  Whatever the answer, the fascination for 
this period is that we know so little about what happened to our 
Craft then and that scholars are ever discovering new insights.
       One way to comprehend the forces that shaped our nascent 
fraternity is to understand the times in which it evolved.  In 
the seventeenth century alchemy was a force to be reckoned with, 
and its symbolism must have been known to the founders of 
Freemasonry.  The alchemists then were as concerned with 
transmuting their baser desires into perfect harmony with God as 
they were in the metallic transmutation of lead into gold.  Their 
books and writings abound with metaphorical and mystical 
symbolism of haunting beauty.
       The Golden Game has reproduced 532 engravings and 
illustrations from the most famous alchemical works of this 
period and has translated their Latin and Hebrew captions to aid 
the reader.  It is now possible to study the beautiful 
illustrations of works that long have been unavailable because of 
their rarity.
       As beautiful as these illustrations are, I can only give a 
qualified recommendation for the book.  There really is little 
direct Masonic symbolism that I could discover, and the author's 
explanations are couched in maddening alchemical jargon.  
Clearly, this is a reference book for the scholar or library.  
The pictures are fascinating, the explanations are frustrating, 
and the links to Masonry are, at best, tantalizing.  Perhaps a 
scholar with deeper insight will find the missing links.


FREEMASONRY AND ITS IMAGE OF MAN by Giuliano di Bernardo
       167 + viii pages, hard bound, ISBN 0 7104 5001 X. $22.95 
(plus $4.25 shipping, handling and insurance) from Macoy 
Publishing and Masonic Supply Co., Inc., P.O. Box 9759, Richmond, 
Virginia 23228-0759.
       This book starts out with great promise, but then fails to 
deliver.  It systematically analyzes the historical, moral, and 
philosophical foundations of Freemasonry, and then shows how they 
do not conflict with but rather support all religions.  The 
author, a life member of the Supreme Council 33 of Italy, is 
particularly concerned with showing that Freemasonry is 
compatible with the Roman Catholic Church.  These noble goals, 
however, do not make the book fully successful.
       The biggest failing of the book is that its language is 
too specialized.  Bro... di Bernardo holds the chair of 
Philosophy of Science at the University of Trento, and this slim 
volume reads more like a college philosophy textbook than 
anything else.  For example, the author, in discussing 
transcendence as the fourth profane fundamental concept of 
Freemasonry, says: "The concept of transcendence assumes two 
profoundly different meanings:  a) transcendence understood 
ontologically, and b) transcendence as a regulative ideal."
       The ideas are carefully organized, but couched in the 
technical language of philosophy.  Freemasonry and Its Image of 
Man certainly is not a clearly written work for the Mason wanting 
to learn a little more about his Craft.  Rather, this text is 
best suited for a research library or for the well-educated 
specialist who is interested in exploring a modern philosopher's 
view of Freemasonry.
  

