‘Masonic Book Club’

     
If you’ve been wondering what has been going on with the Masonic Book Club, an announcement from the Illinois Lodge of Research tonight on Facebook clarifies things:

“In response to several inquiries, the Masonic Book Club of Illinois is no longer in operation and was formally dissolved on June 14, 2013.”

Courtesy Princeton Antiques & Books

It has been about five years since the MBC published a book, so this is not quite shocking news, but it still is a notable loss. The club reprinted rare, historic, and odd out-of-print titles from the vast corpus of Masonic literature. Reading these unique books was rewarding, but waiting to see which curiosity would arrive in the mail was the fun of it.

I think it was around eight years ago when Secretary Robin Carr stepped aside, and I knew then the MBC would not endure for long. Many projects in Freemasonry cease when their sole organizers retire or pass away. The MBC website remains on-line, another predictable example of confusion among the workmen, but I wish I knew the disposition of the inventory of books.