Review: Scholar, courtier, magician: The lost library of John Dee [exhibition at Royal College of Physicians Museum, London, 18 January - 28 July 2016]

Author

Emily SOON, Singapore Management UniversityFollow

Publication Type

Magazine Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

12-2016

Abstract

In the mural the acclaimed illustrator Quentin Blake created to commemorate Cambridge University’s 800th anniversary (2009), the Cambridge alumnus and polymath John Dee (1527 – 1609) comes across as a delightfully demented figure. Cloaked in black and surrounded by books and odd objects, Dee looks intent on conjuring up visions from within a large crystal ball. Blake’s watercolour encapsulates the popular image of Dee as a dabbler in the dark arts, one whose quest for the philosopher’s stone represents the equally dark state of learning thought to exist before the emergence of modern science. Indeed, the contemporary cultural fascination with Dee-as-conjuror draws upon a longstanding dismissal of Dee’s work within scientific circles.

Discipline

Arts and Humanities

Research Areas

Humanities

Publication

Harts and Minds: The Postgraduate Journal of Humanities and Arts

Volume

3

Issue

1

First Page

1

Last Page

3

Publisher

University of Bristol, Graduate School of the Arts and Humanities

Citation

SOON, Emily, "Review: Scholar, courtier, magician: The lost library of John Dee [exhibition at Royal College of Physicians Museum, London, 18 January - 28 July 2016]" (2016). Research Collection School of Social Sciences. Paper 3385.
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3385

Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3385

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.