Product Description

Dee was one of the most influential philosophers of the Elizabethan Age. A close confidant of Queen Elizabeth, he helped to introduce mathematics to England, promoted the idea of maths as the basis of science, anticipated the invention of the telescope, charted the New World, and created one of the most magnificent libraries in Europe. At the height of his fame, Dee was poised to become one of the greats of the Renaissance. Yet he died in poverty and obscurity - his crime was to dabble in magic. Based on Dee's secret diaries which record in fine detail his experiments with the occult, Woolley's book is a rich brew of Elizabethan court intrigue, science, intellectual exploration, discovery and misfortune. And it tells the story of one man's epic but very personal struggle to come to terms with the fundamental dichotomy of the scientific age at the point it arose: the choice between ancient wisdom and modern science as the path to truth.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #63166 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
There was only one man to be honoured by Queen Elizabeth I with the title "my philosopher", but even this exalted title does not do justice to Dr John Dee (1527-1608), one of the Elizabethan era's most brilliant and colourful characters, whose long and eventful life is chronicled in Benjamin Woolley's biography The Queen's Conjuror: The Science and Magi c of Dr Dee. Dee's long career as scholar, scientist, magician and political adviser spanned one of the most turbulent periods of English history, from the death of Henry VIII and England's split with Rome, to the decadent court of James I. Working for the young, embattled Elizabeth, Dee became "an intelligencer", "a seeker of hidden knowledge, philosophical and scientific, as well as political", helping his sovereign to "become an adept at the magical practice of monarchy", as he advised on issues as diverse as foreign policy, internal security, calendrical reformation, overseas exploration, and "spiritual communication".

Woolley is particularly fascinated by Dee's immersion in magic and the occult and his claims that he could "summon the divine secrets of the universe from angels and archangels". It was this involvement in the occult that was to ultimately lead to Dee's fall from grace. The majority of the book deals with Dee's involvement with the sinister Edward Kelley, whose crystal gazing and communications with angels were to lead Dee into virtual exile in central Europe, before his return home in 1589 "after six years, thousands of miles, some triumphs, several disasters, a few accolades and numerous humiliations". Wooley's focus of the increasingly twisted relationship between Dee and Kelley's runs the risk of sidelining Dee's many other achievements, but his description of their magical "actions" is convincing and spooky, and captures Dee's fatal inability to resist his involvement in what he called the "strange participation" between the living and the dead. --Jerry Brotton

Review
'Fresh and original Woolley thinks and writes beautifully. This is a distinguished and rather brilliant book - it's also a rattling good story.' Lisa Jardine ''A fascinating, brilliant account of the Renaissance world picture' Kathryn Hughes, New Statesman 'Woolley handsomely captures a society torn between rationality and romance, cynicism and hero worship'. New Scientist 'An informative and enlightening book. It offers concise and lucid explanations of Dee's more abstruse and arcane theories. And it is immensely enjoyable, its narrative exciting and inexorable. I have not read as stimulating a study of the Elizabethan period since Charles Nicholl's book on Marlowe, the Reckoning'. Thomas Wright, Daily Telegraph

About the Author
Ben Woolley is an author and broadcaster covering both the arts and science. His first book, Virtual Worlds, was shortlisted for the Rhone-Poulenc prize and has been translated into 8 languages. His second book, The Bride of Science , examines how the life of Byron's daughter Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer. He was a regular contributor to The Late Show and has won the Arts Journalist of the Year Award. In 1998, he won an Emmy for his script for the Discovery series Three Minutes to Impact.

Customer Reviews

Now *that's* magic!
It would be very difficult to write a dull biography of John Dee. He was perhaps the archetypal Renaissance man; astronomer, astrologer, explorer and mathematician, he was a friend of Elizabeth I but died in poverty, reviled for his spiritualism.

Based on Dee's private diaries, Woolley's biography is filled with fascinating detail, not only of his experiments, but of Elizabethan court life and society. Thorough without being tedious, this is always eminently readable. And - hurrah! - it has proper citations, an extensive bibliography and a decent index, thus proving once and for all that this kind of slightly populist history does not have to abandon all proper academic convention.

If I have one misgiving, it's that the central, apparently driving force for much of Dee's life, his relationship with Edward Kelly, is under-analysed. Certainly, the facts about Kelly are few enough; but aside from a single, speculative mention of some passing evidence for Kelly's being an apostate priest, no consideration is given to his origins. More importantly, there is little comment on the true nature of the spiritual 'actions' undertaken by the two men. Did Kelly genuinely believe in his visions? And what was his hold on Dee, that he could pursuade him to abandon his morals so far as to exchange wives?

This aside, the book is excellent. In the twenty-first century, we have forgotten that the separation between science and magic is a very recent thing. Woolley takes us straight into the mind of a man for whom they were identical. Recommended.

A good place to start when learning about enochian magick
If you are someone who is interested in Enochian Magick, this can be a great place to start. The books itself does not go into much detail about the scrying sessions with Dee and Kelley but do not let that put you off.

It is a fascinating tale of a man who seemed to be far ahead of his time, and who also seemed to miss oportunities due to plain old bad luck. The book also gives a glimpse into what he was like as a husband and father as well, which really helps makes the reader see him more as a "real" person.

After reading the book, it gives one a good foundation to go on and read books which delve a lot more deeply into Enochian Magick itself as you have a better understanding of the timeline over which the information was received.

If possible, treat yourself to a trip to the British Museum in London to Dee's actual scrying material! After reading the book you will be able to appreciate it so much more.

Tall tales
On this evidence, what might you make of "Dr" John Dee, Scientist, Philosopher, Astronomer, Astrologer, Librarian, Religious dilitante, and apparent correspondent with angels? Learned, though without an obvious career path other than the aspiration to act as consultant philosopher to the Queen. Gullible certainly, based on his curious and lengthy relationship with "skryer" Edward Kelley.

Woolley has steered a path of objectivity through Dee's strange life in the context of 16th Century religious and political mores. He has researched impressively, but you can't help feeling he has failed to get to the bottom of Dee's strange existence, and in so doing has fallen between two stools: Neither truly an academic work (a great many concepts are outlined, but few analysed with the rigour of a scholar), nor particularly the popularist work it desires to be, we are left with a series of cartoons which present a bizarre and incomplete view of the subject.

Brave try, but I wish Mr Woolley had filled in more of the gaps and attempted more informed speculation.