Scottish Rite Journal

Amicus is back with a new name and look! Formerly the Amicus Illuminismi newsletter, Amicus Illumnismi, or “Friend of the Enlightenment,” is an expanded, semi annual digital publication containing articles and news related to the House of the Temple, specifically its library, museum, and archives.

The Autumn 2022 inaugural edition included an article by Larissa Watkins, Librarian of the House of the Temple Library, discussing the roots of the Amicus library newsletter, which extends back to the 1800s. Excerpts of her article appear here:

Towards the end of the periodicals age of the nineteenth-century, Freemasons experienced a flowering in the field of Masonic information, knowledge, and inspiration. In this spirit, the newly appointed Assistant Librarian for the Library of the House of the Temple, William L. Boyden, 32º, former stenographer to the Grand Commander, submitted a proposal in 1897 that “a bulletin or circular be published annually or biennially, to be known as the Library Bulletin[…]”

Yet it was not until a century later, in April 1999, that the first issue of the quarterly newsletter of the Library of the Supreme Council, 33°, SJ, was issued, eventually becoming known as Amicus Quarterly. From 2007–2009, Amicus enjoyed a high profile in four installments in the Scottish Rite Journal, Amicus’s “big brother.” This tradition continues today with articles from Amicus appearing regularly in the Scottish Rite Journal, most recently: Br. Roger Himmel’s article reflecting on a 1971 New Age Magazine article on separation of church and state; Br. B. Chris Ruli’s appreciation of a rare hand-illustrated pamphlet by Isaac Pitman Noyes, 32°, entitled The Philosophy of the Masonic Apron from the House of the Temple Archives; and SRJ Managing Editor Mark Dreisonstok’s close examination of a rare illustration from Br. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s play Götz von Berlichingen in the House of the Temple’s Goethe Collection.

In winter 2011–2012, the publication became Amicus Librarium, and at the end of 2016, Amicus switched from a quarterly to an occasional newsletter, not unlike the Occasional Bulletin of the Iowa Masonic Library of the 1890s, which partly inspired Assistant Librarian Boyden’s 1897 proposal. The last issue of Amicus Librarium came out in Fall 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic, the change to a new librarian, and the reorganization of the structure of some departments of the House of the Temple obliged Amicus Librariumin in its 2010’s incarnation to “demit.”

In Summer 2022, the library newsletter adopted a new name under SGC James D. Cole, 33°, Amicus Illuminismi —a follow-up to Friends of the Library,Amicus Quarterly, and Amicus Librarium and a worthy descendant of Assistant Librarian William L. Boyden’s in 1897 dream for a periodical to promote the interests, collections, and literature of the House of the Temple Library. We cherish high hopes and wishes for our rejuvenated newsletter to win the hearts of the Scottish Rite Brethren across the Southern Jurisdiction and beyond!

Amicus Illuminismi may be accessed by visiting https://scottishrite.org and highlighting “Library” under the “Our Museum” menu item.”

Cover Photo: Amicus Quarterly, Summer/Fall 2003. The lead article explained how great Masonic periodicals of the past, such as the 1928 issue of The New York Masonic Outlook (pictured on the cover), were being made available for research.