How Washington Lost His Birthday and Other Masonic Essays: Gaston Lichtenstein’s George Washington’s Lost Birthday

This book by Gaston Lichtenstein is an antiquarian’s pleasure. An antiquarian is an enthusiast for things historical, and historians sometime regard being called an antiquarian as an insult, as a slur on their scholarship. But rather than a term of abuse, the word can be a compliment, suggesting intellectual curiosity and a passion for proof. That is the case with Lichtenstein, who was eclectic in his writing career, producing work on Freemasonry, Iberian prisoners of war, Atlantic City piers, colonial North Carolina, and in the case of this book, George Washington’s birthday. He was a highly readable author who loved to browse in all kinds of areas, and probably is a better companion by the fireside than many more pretentious scholars.