MASONS AND SCULPTORS Nicola Coldstream. British Museum Press. £7.99

In the past few years, the British Museum Press has published a series of titles on medieval craftsmen. Like the others in this series, this one comes with a collection of excellent illustrations. The work is something of a ‘morning’ type of coffee-table book. When I saw the celebrated architectural historian David Watkin some years back, he proudly announced that the size of his new biography of Sir John Soane (a mason of some distinction and often named as the first professional architect in England) could be called a ‘coffee table book’ as regards the dimensions of its cover. The description of Ms Coldstream’s book therefore suggests that this is not a serious academic work, but an informed, popular view of its subject.
    Both the subject matter and the way it is presented are of some importance to Freemasons. Unfortunately, the very first paragraph does not give grounds for confidence: “For many years an erroneous link was traced between medieval freemasons and the comparatively modern fraternity of Freemasons”. I find that to be too dismissive and the fact that it appears so early in an introduction to the subject worrying. This feeling intensified throughout my further reading, as the work does not offer any additional proof for or against the argument. On the other hand, accounts of some of the everyday realities experienced by medieval builders, as well as the well-researched illustrations, were well worth the browse. I would not have anything against having the book in my library but would not travel far and wide to find it.
    Snezana Lawrence