Richard Rhodes has written the definitive book on stonework. His firsthand knowledge of the many ways stone has been used in architecture throughout the ages, as well as sharing his professional hands-on masonry experience, makes this more than a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the history of stone and also the essential properties of stone, along with the fundamentals of how to work with it.
In the book Richard tackles many subjects that sometimes get overlooked including the many masonry principles that have been lost or ignored by modern masonry practices. Throughout the book, his love of stone and and mankind's enduring connection to it becomes inspiringly evident.
I first heard Richard speak at a symposium in Santa Fe nearly twenty five years ago. His affable and clear way of talking about my favourite subject was more than impressive. Sometime later we had a chance to meet and talk on many subjects including the importance of dry stone walling in art and landscape design.
When he shared that he was going to be in Toronto in 2004 for a conference, I invited him to come and give a presentation here in Port Hope during that same trip. He agreed, and Mary and I rented the library and made plans to advertise the event in the local paper. I knew a number of wallers and masons who worked with stone locally who would benefit from hearing what he had to share.
When I asked him over the phone what he would like the title of his talk to be, he replied "Revealing the Hidden Secrets of Free Masonry"
I was somewhat alarmed "Can you do that? Won't that get you (and us) in a lot of trouble?"
I forget his exact answer, but he somehow assured me that it would be okay.
The evening of the presentation, Richard and I arrived at the local library to see a large crowd of mostly men waiting outside. We realized right away that there were too many people to fit in the conference room we had booked. We quickly had to arrange a second talk for 8:30.
The talk was a riveting explanation of many of amazing properties of stone including little known subjects like quarry sap and bedding planes and the underlying principles explaining how it has been used in the past and how to create proper bonding in order to have it be more structural. He expounded cleverly on other fascinating subjects such as the golden mean, the fibonacci series and various elements of sacred geometry, showing how it all connected with stone.
It turned out that most of the people who had come to hear Richard were in fact of the Order of Free Masons, who admitted they were there because they didn't know what the secrets were.
In reading an advanced copy of Richard's book which his publishers sent me (which will be available to order mid June) I was delighted to see that along with many new insights and colour photos of impressive stonework throughout the world, the 'secrets' he talked about that evening in Port Hope are also covered in the book.
Whether you're a free mason looking for answers or not, I heartily encourage you to get your copy of Stone - Ancient Craft to Modern Masonry and invite you to come to another presentation we are hoping to have him give in the Port Hope area this summer, 2025.
The book 8 x 10 272 page hardcover book is published by Princeton Architectural Press, and the ISBN number is 978-1-7972-3008-5
