Reference Shelf

This is a small, focused selection of important Masonic reference works, useful for basic research in writing Masonic papers. Familiarity with many of the works here are essential to any informed Mason. Note, however, that many key sources are not available in digital form; do not allow your studies to be limited to what can be found online.

Masonic Literature of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

We have begun to maintain a list of important early Masonic works, some of which are available online.

• Eighteenth Century
• Nineteenth Century

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

An important starting point for many projects.

• Mackey's Encyclopædia of Freemasonry - 1874 edition, fully searchable
• Macoy's General History, Cyclopædia and Dictionary of Freemasonry - 1872, fully searchable
• Oliver's Dictionary of Symbolical Masonry - 1856, fully searchable
• Masonic Abbreviations - a fairly comprehensive list by Samuel Fallows, 1883

Encyclopedias Not Online

• Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia by Henry W. Coil - 1961, rev. ed. 1995
• The Royal Masonic Cyclopædia by Kenneth Mackenzie - 1877

Comparative Ritual Monitors

Ritual monitors from different regions and time periods can be useful for comparison and to glean additional Masonic light.

• Mackey's Manual of the Lodge - American, 1891*
• A Text-Book of Freemasonry - English Emulation Rite, 1870
• The Masonic Instructor - Canadian Rite, 1899

Ars Quatuor Coronatorum

The Transactions of Lodge Quatuor Coronati № 2076, the world's premier lodge of Masonic research. The following are links to their early journals which have entered the public domain. Though old, they contain much research that remains seminal.

AQC 1, 1888 AQC 3, 1890 AQC 4, 1891 AQC 5, 1892 AQC 6, 1893 AQC 7, 1894 AQC 8, 1895 AQC 9, 1896 AQC 11, 1898 AQC 13, 1900

AQC 14, 1901 AQC 15, 1902 AQC 16, 1903 AQC 17, 1904 AQC 18, 1905 AQC 19, 1906 AQC 20, 1907 AQC 21, 1908 partial AQC index (vols 1–98)

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.

"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