Evolution of Freemasony: An Authentic Story of Freemasonry

2010 Book. The Evolution of Freemasony: An Authentic Story of Freemasonry was written by Delmar Duane Darrah in 1920. It is a profusely illustrated volume with portraits of distinguished Freemasons and views of memorable relics and places of singular Masonic interest. The book appears at first glace to be a collection of articles assembled for publication. While that may be what actually happened in publishing the original, his fair dealing of the topics discussed continues to resonate with the Fraternity even today. Whether that is a testimony to his writing or to the static nature of the Fraternity, we will leave to the reader. Darrah attempts in the Chapters to take on many topics with the aim to lift the Masonic Society out of the realm of speculation and mysticism, dispelling the myths surrounding many of the most controversial topics of his time. Darrah sets forth in an honest endeavor to tell the truth concerning the origin and development of the Fraternity and, as far as possible, to dispel the many myths which had grown up and for nearly two hundred years had been presented to the unsuspecting as fact. He begins in his own foreword where he states: "Masons have believed the things concerning the origin of the institution that they wanted to believe and have gone forth and told them as facts. When links were missing, they have been supplied by drawing upon fertile imaginations.” That sentence embodies the spirit of how nearly every Chapter in the book is written.