[Rarebooks] Offering: John Dee

[Michael John Thompson]

The limted leatherbound edition, rarely encountered.

DEE, John. CASAUBON, Meric [editor].

A TRUE AND FAITHFUL RELATION OF WHAT PASSED FOR MANY YEARS BETWEEN DR. JOHN 
DEE (A Mathematician of Great Fame in Q. Eliz. and King James their 
Reignes) AND SOME SPIRITS. Tending (had it Suceeded) To a General 
Alteration of most States and Kingdomes of the World. His Private 
Conferences with Rodolphe Emperor of Germany, Stephen K. of Poland, and 
divers other Princes about it. The Particulars of His Cause, as it was 
agitated in the Emp erors Court; By the Popes Intervention: His Banishment, 
and Restoration in part. As Also The Letters of Sundry Great Men and 
Princes (some whereof were present at some of these Conferences and 
Apparitions of Spirits:) to the said Dr. Dee. Out of The Original Copy, 
written with Dr. Dees own Hand: Kept in the Library of Sir Thomas Cotton, 
Kt. Baronet. With a Preface Confirming the Reality (as to the Point of 
Spirits) of this relation, and Shewing the several good uses that a Sober 
Christian may make of All.

London: Printed by D. Maxwell for T. Garthwait. 1659 [actually, Portmerion, 
Wales: The Golden Dragon Press. 1974].


First printing of this modern facsimile edition, limited to 500 numbered 
copies. Folio, bound in full period-style panelled calf, the spine with 
raised bands and with red title label lettered in gilt. Frontispiece 
portraits. A fine facsimile of the 1659 edition, printed on paper specially 
manufactured for this production by Somerville and Co. 1000 copies were 
bound in cloth, and are commonly encounter, this copy is number 160 of 500 
copies bound in full period leather, signed by the publishers , and these 
are highly sought-after and desirable. This edition bears a short 3-page 
essay "A Note on Dr. Dee and his Occult Researches" at the rear, signed 
E.C.W. John Dee (1527-1608), noted British mathematician, astronomer, 
astrologer, geographer, occultist, and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He 
also devoted much of his life to alchemy, divination, and Hermetic 
philosophy.Dee straddled the worlds of science and magic just as they were 
becoming distinguishable. One of the most learned men of his time, he had 
lectured to crowded halls at the University of Paris when still in his 
early twenties. He was an ardent promoter of mathematics, a respected 
astronomer and a leading expert in navigation, having trained many of those 
who would conduct England's voyages of discovery (he coined the term 
"British Empire"). At the same time, he immersed himself deeply in magic 
and Hermetic philosophy, devoting the last third of his life almost 
exclusively to these pursuits. For Dee, as with many of his contemporaries, 
these activities were not contradictory, but particular aspects of a 
consistent world-view. The present volume is extracted from Dee's diaries, 
and pertains to the mystical studies Dee worked with his assistant, John 
Kelly, in Prague during the 1580's. Dee and Kelly's contact with angels and 
transcriptions of "Enochian" language and Calls are perhaps fantastical but 
are the very basis of a great many Western traditions since their time. A 
fine copy, without dust wrapper, in slipcase, as issued.

$750.00 US
Terms: As Usual


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Michael John Thompson
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