Library

Masonic research is the lifeblood of Academia Lodge. For the support of our members—and of all brethren who are engaged in a program of deeper study—these references and links have been assembled.

Articles

Our Lodge produces well over a dozen papers a year, and much of this research may be found on the Articles by Our Members page. These include both short treatments of various subjects as well as fully developed papers.

Classics

Influential addresses and traditions.

• The Heavenly Genius of Masonry by A.F.A. Woodford
• The Light And Truth Of Masonry Explained by Thomas Dunckerley - 1757
• "Ponder Well"
• Our Conscious Temple - The Masonic Oration of Thomas Starr King, 1863

External Sources

The following items are especially recommended Masonic reading. Feel free to submit suggestions for links here.

California Masonic Code

All members of Academia Lodge are expected to be familiar with the contents of the California Masonic Code (CMC), which are the rules under which we are beholden and obligated. Lodge officers are required to have a thorough knowledge of the regulations contained here.

Articles

• Keeping the Meaning Intact - Western Museums Association (WestMuse), Winter 2009.
• Teaching Applied Freemasonry - Academia Lodge members were interviewed for this article in the California Freemason magazine.
• Early Masonic Documents - a chart by Bro∴ Lee Miller (GLBC&Y)

Our Book Collection

The Academia Lodge library is small but contains many titles which are extremely useful in Masonic research. It is housed in the Harry Yetter Masonic Research Library at the Oakland Scottish Rite Temple, which itself represents a formidable resource for any kind of Masonic investigation. The Academia collection, combined with the Harry Yetter Library. offer Academia members access to the most comprehensive Masonic library in Northern California.

Our specific collection is catalogued at LibraryThing.

Donations to this library are actively sought. We particularly desire:

• Research Lodge Transactions
• Books especially useful to new candidates as they begin their studies
• Masonic books from the UK (which tend to be rare in the US)
• Quality works on symbolism in general

Use of the collection is restricted to members of Academia Lodge in good standing.

"There has ever existed, among all cultured and enlightened people, a strong desire for the formation of libraries, to preserve the literature of their best writers and authors. To a great extent, the ancients, as well as the moderns, have promoted and indulged in this taste. … The Masonic publications are among the peculiar features of the literature of the present day. No other secret society can compare with us in the varied and comprehensive treatises and scientific works, and to be a 'bright mason' is not only to be proficient in the Ritual of our fraternity, but to understand its laws, usages, teachings, and philosophy."

R∴W∴ Herman G. Carter, Grand Librarian of New York, 1885

"The true Mason is an ardent seeker after knowledge; and he knows that both books and the antique symbols of Masonry are vessels which come down to ua full-freighted with the intellectual riches of the past; and that in the lading of these argosies is much that sheds light on the history of Masonry, and proves its claim to be acknowledged the benefactor of mankind."

W∴ Bro∴ Albert Pike, 1871