John Dee: The Politics of Reading and Writing in the English Renaissance (Massachusetts Studies in Early Modern Culture)

This book challenges the conventional image of John Dee (1527–1609) as an isolated, eccentric philosopher. Instead, William H. Sherman presents Dee in a fresh context, revealing that he was a well-connected adviser to the academic, courtly, and commercial circles of his day. This book presents a major reassessment of the career and cultural background of John Dee (1527-1609), one of Elizabethan England's most interesting figures. Challenging the conventional image of the isolated, eccentric philosopher, Sherman situates Dee in a fresh context, revealing that he was a well-connected adviser to the academic, courtly, and commercial circles of his day. The centerpiece of Dee's life is shown to be the massive library and museum at Mortlake, perhaps the first modern "think tank." There he lived, worked, and entertained some of the period's most influential intellectuals and politicians. Sherman discusses Dee's household arrangements, reading practices, and writings on subjects ranging from calendar reform to imperial policy. He also offers the first detailed account of the broad network of scholars and other experts who, along with Dee, operated behind the political scenes, providing textual and technological support during this time of unprecedented intellectual and global expansion. On 9 November 1592, Anne Russell, countess of Warwick, delivered a letter to Queen Elizabeth at Hampton Court: it was a "supplication" from the Queen's "servant in Mortlake," John Dee.