Masonic Curiosities And More by Yasha Beresiner, Australian & New Zealand Masonic Research Council. 220 pages. ISBN 0 9578256 0 9. Price £15 plus £1 p+p. UK distributors: InterCol London, 43 Templars Crescent, London N3 3QR. Tel: 020 8349 2207. Fax: 020 8346 9549. E-mail: intercol@compuserve.com. Web site: www.intercol.co.uk.

Every so often one of those delightful little books comes along which makes riveting reading. Yasha Beresiner, a former Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No 2076, the premier Lodge of research, has produced some fascinating vignettes with 20 intriguing stories about Freemasonry.
    In Lodge rooms we take the furniture and other trappings for granted. But what of those common features of Lodge rooms, the tracing boards and globes?
    On tracing boards, one theory is that, back in the mists of time Lodges met in the open air. As such, the delineation that marked the Lodge area outdoors may have been converted into a tracing board once Lodges began to meet indoors. Far fetched? Perhaps, but curious nonetheless.
    Globes have always played an important part in Freemasonry. They were part of the Frontispiece of the 1784 Constitutions of the Moderns Grand Lodge. The famous Freemason, William Preston, in his lectures between 1772 and 1800, as well as in his publication Illustrations of Masonry, placed considerable emphasis on the significance of globes.
    Yasha Beresiner comments: “The presence of Terrestrial and Celestial Globes as part of our lodge furnishings is fast becoming a thing of the past. It can only be hoped that those fortunate lodges that do possess globes will take care of them at their meetings, enhancing the atmosphere and beauty of the lodge room.”
    The wrangling that took place over the Royal Arch between the Ancients and Moderns – the two rival Grand Lodges that split English Freemasonry between 1751 and 1813 – underlines how emotive Masonic issues can be.
    The Antients saw it as the Fourth Degree, while the Moderns refused to recognise the Royal Arch at all. The Antients practised the Royal Arch ritual in Craft Lodges as a fourth degree, and from 1807 onwards dropped the provision that only a Past master could become a Royal Arch Mason. Here is a nice little potted history by the author of what is now accepted as the completion of the Master Mason’s or Third Degree.
    As the author points out, Masonry should be fun. This is underlined by a chapter on the close relationship between the Craft and theatre and music. While most Masons know that Mozart was a Brother, what about Thomas Arne, composer of Rule Britannia? Nor is it widely known that the tune of God Save the Queen was first recorded as a Masonic song in The Hague in the 1760s.
    The author takes us through the fascinating world of Masonic collectibles – paper money, postcards, book plates and playing cards. A look at Masonic newspapers shows how open Freemasonry was in bygone years.
    These and many more tales of Freemasonry would make excellent short lectures for those Lodges that may not have a candidate. It would make an excellent gift to the new Master Mason completing his third degree.
    John Jackson