"To preserve the reputation of the Fraternity unsullied must be your constant care."

BE A FREEMASON

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Masonic Book Club: "Evolutions of Freemasonry" by Delmar Darrah

The Masonic Book Club started in 1970, and reprints hard to find Masonic books in limited hardback editions for its members. In the next few weeks, they will be shipping the 2010 title, Evolutions of Freemasonry by Delmar Duane Darrah, PGM of Illinois, a collection of articles on Freemasonry written in the 1920s.

According to the Club newsletter, "Delmar Duane Darrah was a Professor of English and Public Speaking at Illinois Wesleyan University. He served Illinois as Grand Master in 1910-11, Grand Commandery's Grand Recorder in the early 1920's. He was an Active Member of the Supreme Council and Deputy for Illinois in 1932, serving as Grand Lieutenant Commander of the Supreme Council, N.M.J., A.A.S.R. He was a Masonic publisher, an author and a lecturer of wide renown. He was also a key mentor of Louis L. Williams who was one of the founders of the Masonic Book Club."

The Club lost its printer of four decades this past year, but now has a new supplier, and they are now offering on-line payments for annual dues and book sales via Paypal. Past editions are for sale, and the Club is partnered with the Illinois Lodge of Research Library, which is administering their book inventory.

Annual dues are $20 US & Canada, and $25 for members in other countries. See www.masonicbookclub.org

UPDATE: 

Please note! As of early 2016, the Masonic Book Club has gone out of business, and the Illinois Lodge of Research no longer lists the Club's old stock of titles anymore. Rumor has it that another existing, established Masonic research organization is going to resurrect the Club, possibly by 2017, and the hope is to reprint many of the older titles that are out of print and hard to find. But no details are publicly available yet.

7 comments:

  1. This looks very good. They have a collection of Lessing's books that I have been looking for to purchase. I will join. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. John, they wound up going out of business, so don't try to send money! The website is dead, and the Illinois Lodge of Research no longer lists their backlog.

    But the word on the street is that another existing, established research organization is going to resurrect the Masonic Book Club's old volumes and start publishing new titles again. Probably in the coming year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Replies
    1. I don't think so. I wish there was something out there like it though. They printed interesting works.

      Delete
    2. It hasn't... yet. But I keep being told it's coming soon. I've been told that since 2015, but I still trust my source.

      Delete

ATTENTION!
SIGN YOUR NAME OR OTHERWISE IDENTIFY YOURSELF IN YOUR COMMENT POSTS IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A GOOGLE ACCOUNT.
Your comments will not appear immediately because I am forced to laboriously screen every post. I'm constantly bombarded with spam. Depending on the comments being made, anonymous postings on Masonic topics may be regarded with the same status as cowans and eavesdroppers, as far as I am concerned. If you post with an unknown or anonymous account, do not automatically expect to see your comment appear.