The R. G. Campbell Masonic Library.

In con­junc­tion with the Sault Ste. Marie Masonic Hall Corporation and the finan­cial sup­port of all Lodges of this District, we are pleased to have a dis­trict library in Algoma East District. It is located in the Masonic Temple in Sault Ste. Marie. Please try to visit the library and use the facilities.

From time to time, we will pro­vide short sum­maries of some of the books avail­able on loan from the library. We hope that your inter­est and your desire to make daily advance­ment in Masonic Knowledge will encour­age you to use the library loan ser­vice which is avail­able free of charge to any mem­ber of Algoma East District.

If you wish to have a closer look at what infor­ma­tion is avail­able other than through the book loan ser­vice, you can do so by vis­it­ing the Library and look­ing up the inven­tory of mate­ri­als on the com­puter there sim­ply by access­ing the title “Use”. Then you will have access to all of the mate­ri­als in the library from Proceedings to videos.

Eventually we hope to have this ser­vice avail­able to you from your own loca­tion through the library sec­tion of the District web site. Check the web site often as the books we high­light will change at least every few months and any new books we receive will appear as soon as we can get them on the site.

If you have ques­tions or areas you would like us to fol­low — up on , please con­tact the chair­man of the Library Committee: R. W. Bro. Nelson Ingram (to con­tact by e-mail click on name) or by phone at (705) 848‑0214, or by reg­u­lar mail at: 104–3 Wellington Crescent, Elliot Lake, Ontario P5A 2X1 and he will try to answer your requests as soon as pos­si­ble. Other mem­bers of the Library Committee are: W. Bro. Robert Forster, Bro. Harry Lewis, and R. W. Bro. Arthur Burlein.

The books we wish to high­light are:

Beyond The Pillars.

(Grand Lodge of Ontario) (1973)

This is a very good ” first read” book for the begin­ning Mason. It deals pri­mar­ily with the his­tory of Masonry and of the his­tory of the Grand Lodge of Ontario.

It traces the ori­gins of Masonry and sum­ma­rizes the lessons of the ritual

in the three degrees, reviews the signs, and explains the grips and words.

It is a good overview of the Craft.

The Builders.

( IF. Newton) (1914)

This book is a very deep philo­soph­i­cal reflec­tion on the secrets and mys­ter­ies of Masonry…its signs, sym­bols, and mes­sage ( or mean­ing). It traces the ori­gin and devel­op­ment of such things as the work­ing tools, the secret doc­trines, and the foun­da­tion of the Craft. It is his­tor­i­cal in nature and deals with the chrono­log­i­cal data dur­ing the development.

An inter­est­ing book to read when search­ing for back­ground devel­op­ment of the craft and for under­stand­ing of some of the fundamentals.

British Masonic Miscellany

(G. M. Martin) (No date)

This is an almost com­plete set of small pocket sized books that num­ber 20 vol­umes (we have 19 of them). They dis­cuss many areas of Masonry and do not seem to do so in any orga­nized way. Topics are varied.

Example: Volume 1: Masonic Clothing, Masonic Symbolism, and var­i­ous points of the ritual.

Volume 12: The Third Degree, Great Symbols of Masonry, The unique sym­bol­ism of each degree.

They are good source of Masonic knowl­edge for any­one look­ing for a par­tic­u­lar topic or area and not want­ing to read great vol­umes on it.

Mackey’s Symbolism of Freemasonry

(A. G. Mackey) ( 1925)

This is an American pub­li­ca­tion. It is an in-depth study of some of the Masonic sym­bols and deals with both tra­di­tion and his­tor­i­cal beliefs. Some of the things it deals with are:

The Form of the Lodge.

The point within a circle.

The rite of investiture.

The sprig of aca­cia (and its significance).

It is a very com­plete and infor­ma­tive Book.