Stone

Ancient Craft to Modern Mastery

Richard Rhodes author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Chronicle Books

Publishing:17th Jul '25

£40.00

This title is due to be published on 17th July, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

Stone cover

In this perceptive and illustrative look at the expressive and practical use of stone throughout history, Richard Rhodes unlocks the underlying principles of this ancient material—and explains the closely guarded “Sacred Rules” of the Freemasons guild for the first time ever.

The relationship between mankind and stone is elemental and deeply ingrained in us all. Stone, after all, has been the primary building material for more than five thousand years of human history, and it continues to record our triumphs and failures. In this searching history, Rhodes—a sculptor, stonemason, and scholar of stonework—explores how stone is best used today and throughout history.

Stone presents the closely kept “Sacred Rules” developed over centuries by the medieval Freemason guild, previously available only to the initiated. Here, the rules are explained through historical examples and photographs. In these times of rapid development and expansive urbanization, Rhodes implores us to explore the essential qualities of stone that emerge from the Sacred Rules, not only to rediscover the ancient and traditional knowledge that governed its use for so long but also to find a roadmap for how future generations might thoughtfully recapture the power this material offers.

ISBN: 9781797230085

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

272 pages