
audiobook
by John Dee
Step into the mind of one of England’s most enigmatic scholars through his own handwritten notes. The diary, scrawled in a cramped hand on the margins of old almanacs, offers a day‑by‑day record of births, travel tidbits and the occasional chill‑inducing whisper that haunted his chambers. Its pages reveal a man who balanced meticulous observation with a fervent belief in hidden forces, letting us hear his private musings long before they were ever meant for public eyes.
Alongside the diary lies a meticulous catalogue of Dee’s manuscript library, a treasure map of rare medieval texts that have since vanished. The list records the astonishing sum he spent to assemble his collection and hints at the obscure treatises that once filled his shelves. Together, these documents paint a vivid portrait of a thinker whose imagination fused science and the occult, inviting listeners to explore the restless curiosity that drove a Renaissance mind.
Language
en
Duration
~4 hours (269K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Louise Hope, David Starner and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2006-10-16
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1527–1608
A brilliant and puzzling figure from Elizabethan England, this mathematician and adviser to Queen Elizabeth I moved easily between science, navigation, and the occult. His life sits at the crossroads of Renaissance learning, political ambition, and a lasting fascination with hidden knowledge.
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