The Warburg Institute

An Unknown Chapter in the Life of John Dee
Author(s): C. H. Josten
Source: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 28 (1965), pp. 223-257
Published by: The Warburg Institute
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AN UNKNOWN CHAPTER IN THE LIFE OF JOHN DEE
By C. H. Josten
Casaubon, D.D. (1599-1671), published in I659 A True & Faithful
Meric Relationof WhatpassedformanyYeersBetweenDr John Dee (A Mathematician
of GreatFame in Q. Eliz. and King James theirReignes)and SomeSpirits. Apart
from an interesting preface and a table of contents by Casaubon, this work
contains the text of a Dee manuscript, then in the Cottonian Library, which
is now MS. Cotton, Appendix XLVI, parts i and ii, in the British Museum.
The printed book contains a great number of printing errors, omissions,
gratuitous additions, and other inaccuracies, which Casaubon carefully cor-
rected in his own copy, now in the Bodleian Library (shelf-mark: D. 8. 14
Art.). Besides corrections, this volume contains also a certain number of
annotations in Casaubon's hand. According to a manuscript note on the
title-page, Casaubon's copy was acquired on 8 October i672 by Arthur
(Annesley), third Earl of Anglesey (1614-86), who lent the book to Elias
Ashmole in December I672 (MS. Ashm. 1788, fol. 65). Ashmole copied
Casaubon's corrections and annotations into his own copy of the printed work
(now MS. Ashm. 58o) and added certain interesting annotations of his own
in the margin of Casaubon's printed preface and elsewhere; he also collated
his copy of the printed book with the manuscript.
Casaubon's printed edition of the Dee manuscript in the Cottonian Library
has been, and will be, the principal source for Dee's life between 28 May 1583
and 23 May 1587 to those who cannot consult the original in the British
Museum. The text contains a great deal of biographical information, inter-
spersed between the minutes of the spiritistic seances (or 'actions') which sup-
plied the title to Casaubon's edition. Though a biography of Dee has been
published by Mrs. Charlotte Fell Smith (JohnDee, London, I909), a scholarly
and detailed account of the life and work of that singularly learned Elizabethan
Hermetist remains a desideratum primaeclassis.
A recent accidental discovery among the manuscripts of that passionate
collector of any kind of information on Dee, Elias Ashmole, may, therefore,
be of use to a future biographer. MS. Ashm. 1790, art. I, fols. I-Io, is a paper
in Dee's hand, entitled:
Praefatio Latina
in Actionem primam
jex7j(habitam,
Io Die Aprilis,
Pragae), et iam in
Latinum conversam sermonem.
Anno 1586.
223

224 C. H. JOSTEN
The Latin translation of the minutes of the action of Io April 1586, which is
mentioned in this title, is found ibid., fols. I2-I 9v. (A transcript of both these
texts, written by Ashmole, is preserved in MS. Ashm. 1788, fols. 37-64; it is
not always accurate.) To anyone familiar with Casaubon's book a perusal of
these texts soon makes it obvious that they fill a lacuna in the original (MS.
Cotton, Appendix XLVI) and the printed edition, of which Casaubon him-
self was aware. On page 417 of his own copy of the printed book he has
noted under Dee's account of the action of 6 September I585:
'Memorandum. hic est hiatus dimidii plus minus anni.'
The Latin preface to the action of i o April and the Latin version of the
minutes of that action have, therefore, been translated into English (below,
pp. 225-55). The sequel in Casaubon's book, entitled 'Liber Resurrectionis',
especially Dee's and Kelly's expulsion from Bohemia and other dominions of
the Emperor on 29 May I586 (Casaubon, pp. 418-48), cannot be properly
understood without them.
Their text provides a plausible explanation for the hiatus in the manu-
script used by Casaubon: the minutes of Dee's seances were usually recorded
by him in English and later translated into Latin (below, p. 227). Dee's
medium and skryer, Edward Kelly, usually received his allegedly divine or
angelic communications in English, and certainly did so on this occasion
(below, p. 241). They were recorded by Dee immediately after Kelly had
spoken (below, p. 247). The minutes of the action of io April 1586, which
were in English, were separated from the volume in which they had just been
entered as a sequel to previous seances, during the action itself. A voice,
which Dee believed was that of the Holy Spirit, commanded him (through
Kelly) to cut out of the book the text of the minutes he was writing. The
rest of the volume they were commanded to burn at once, together with all
their other mystical books and papers, including the records of all previous
seances, and the powder of transmutation. (They had previously been com-
manded not to make any use of 'that holy powder' and of a certain book
which, like the powder, had been divinely communicated, until they would
receive permission to do so.) The preparation of this holocaust and its burning
are described in great detail (below, pp. 248-54). When their treasures had
been miraculously restored to Dee and Kelly on, and after, 29 April i586
(Casaubon, pp. 418-20, and a marginal note in Ashmole's copy on p. 418),
the excised minutes of the action of 10 April 1586 were, it seems, not reunited
with the volume in which they had originally been written. Their original
English text, which was written by Dee during the seance, is apparently lost
(cf. below, n. 36).
It is questionable whether the Latin preface to these minutes ever had an
English original. Dee often interspersed the minutes of the seances with
accounts of events in his and Kelly's lives and with other explanatory material,
as has already been mentioned. These intercalations are usually in English.
But, in this instance, the title of the preface (above, p. 223) makes it plausible
that the preface was not translated from an English original, but was originally
written in Latin. The preface was, at any rate, written a few days after a
conversation of circa 23 April I586, which Dee mentions in its text (below,

THE LIFE OF JOHN DEE 225
p. 233). Dee may indeed have written the Latin preface so as to use it, in
conjunction with the Latin version of the minutes of i o April 1586, as a justi-
fication of his and Kelly's conduct in the eyes of some official of the imperial
court. Latin, in this case, would indeed have been the only likely medium of
communication (cf. Casaubon, p. 421, wrongly paginated 417).
Dee's and Kelly's situation at Prague, at the end of April 1586, was most
precarious and very much in need of justification before those who were in
power. Ever since their arrival in August 1584 (Casaubon, p. 212) Dee had
tried to persuade ambassadors and other influential persons at the court of
the Emperor Rudolf II, as also the Emperor himself, of the importance of
the celestial communications received by him and Kelly. Dee had failed
utterly in his attempts to win the confidence and favour of the Emperor him-
self, as whose private Philosophus
et Mathematicushe had hoped to be established
(Casaubon, p. 246; below, nn. 6, 7, 8). Dee and Kelly were also, at least at
times, in desperate need of money (Casaubon, pp. 247, 389); they were
apparently not receiving any financial support from England (below, p. 237).
Dangerous rumours denying the integrity of their intentions and accusing
them of conjurations of evil spirits had been spreading since the latter part of
I584 (Casaubon, pp. 247, 255, 354; below, pp. 227-30). The suspicions of
two successive Papal Nuncios, and through their reports those of the Holy
See, had been aroused (below, pp. 229, 230, 257).
The events related in our text concern mainly the development of Dee's
and Kelly's relations with the Nuncio and with Kelly's Jesuit confessor. The
Rector of the Jesuits at Prague and other Jesuits, who are mentioned, also
appear to have taken an interest, not altogether friendly, in these foreign
magicians who, in spite of Kelly's desire to receive the sacraments according to
the Roman Catholic rite (below, pp. 234-5), were known to belong to a hereti-
cal and schismatical church (below, p. 245). The ecclesiastical authorities may
have been confirmed in their suspicions by information they received from
Dee's and Kelly's pretended friend and household companion, Francesco
Pucci, whom Dee had allowed to take part in the seances. Pucci, at any rate,
had known the Nuncio only for a few days, when the flattering, yet un-
successful, invitations to call, which the Nuncio had formerly sent to Dee and
Kelly, suddenly changed into a severe command which made them repair to
his palace without delay (below, p. 231). Pucci appears also as a friend of
the Jesuits (below, pp. 238-9), and, only a few months after the events related
in our text, Dee recognized him as a false friend and a spy of the Nuncio and
his adherents (below, n. 25).
In the translation, which follows, Dee's parentheses have been preserved.
Additions by the translator and Dee's marginal notes have been placed in
brackets. It should be noted that Dee frequently refers to himself by the
Greek letter A. May the text, which at least one reader found fascinating,
now speak for itself:
[Title- A Latin preface to the first of seven actions (which took place on the ioth day
page:] of April at Prague) and which has now been translated into Latin.
In the year I586.

226 C. H. JOSTEN
A Whether this action, which took place on the Ioth of April or the one which
took place on the 30th of April should be taken by us to have been the first,
I am not yet certain. For in the other (the one of the 3oth day) the institution
of seven half-yearly actions was mentioned. Consider [this point].1
[Text:] A wonderful token of the great catastrophe overhanging the world, revealed
by the Holy Spirit and explained in a very brief and very true account.
The narrator fervently wishes the pious and faithful reader

salvation, peace, and consolation in Christ Jesus. Amen.
When it was enjoined on me by God Almighty to commit those things to

writing which He communicates to us from His immense goodness and most
abundant grace, I deemed it my portion (since the mysteries of the Most High
are great, and since they are heavenly and wonderful gifts) to be extremely
careful lest by me, or by my negligence, they be offered to the handling or
the sight of the proud, those without faith, the ungrateful, the envious, the
impure, or of any unworthy person. Yet, surely, we were expressly instructed
from the very first beginning of that our vocation and function, and we have
known ever since, that it is in accordance with our duty and most agreeable
to the Divine Majesty to show those mysteries in passing, to relate them com-
pendiously, or to give a very brief account of an action (as we call it) (tran-
scribed or translated from our authentic original autograph), to the worthy,
namely to those who are pious, humble, modest, sincere, conspicuous in
Christian charity, enlightened, to those to whom words of divine life and truth
are, or may be, a very great consolation, and also sometimes (by a singular
divine providence or command) to certain men of yet another kind. However,
without any doubt, when the fulness of the appointed time has run its course,
a great many of the things which we have received and understood by divine
communication and in secret (under a seal of, as it were, pre-ordained silence)
will be published and known to the world in a most abundant, manifest,
complete, and effective way; to the honour, the praise, and the glory of Him
who is God, the Son of God, and the King of Kings; and He will be the most
just judge of men alive and dead.
Yet if any mortal should try to force or by fraud to snatch from our hands
those records which are of such great value to us, let him try; indeed he will
1The title-page of the original of the of which the last is recorded for 6 September
'Liber Resurrectionis' (MS. Cotton, Appen- I585 (Casaubon, p. 417). The designation
dix XLVI, part ii, fol. 135) is inscribed 'Actio 'Actio prima et secunda ex septem' is erro-
prima et secunda ex septem'. The events of neously omitted in Casaubon's printed edition
this book follow immediately on those of the (p. 418), but was added in manuscript in
hitherto lost action of i o April 1586; it con- Casaubon's own copy, and also in Ashmole's.
tains two actions, one of 30 April I586 and See also Casaubon, p. 420, where Dee and
the other of 14 October 1586. It appears, Kelly are commanded to count a new series
therefore, that Dee decided not to call the of seven actions from Good Friday (4 April)
action of i o April 1586 the first of a new 1586.
series, but tojoin it to the 'Actiones Puccianae'

try; or if somebody should not be ashamed to condemn these (mysteries

utterly unknown to him) by his arrogant and unadvised judgement; or if
somebody should dare to assert that we are most subtle impostors, that indeed
these [records] were fabricated by us, and that for that reason we should be
deemed pernicious citizens in the Christian polity; or if someone should want
to persuade also other persons out of his passionate suspicion that we are over-
credulous or doting fools who have been drawn and driven into error (a
pleasant and alluring error so far) by some very astute evil spirit making
game of us over many years; or if somebody should wish to maintain (as
though this resulted from the Holy Scriptures) that, in our time and in the
present condition of the world, all revelation by divine communication has
ceased, and that no such revelation is made or no true prophecy given to
mortals; to all these and every one of them and to many other of our opponents
(whosoever they may be) this last revelation (which we have received from
Heaven) answers so wisely and objects so vigorously, it bars so effectively the
way to their assemblies and meeting places, and opposes itself so strongly to
the endeavours and designs they have made, that, whenever and wherever
this last action is recited in public, every later age will rejoice with unbeliev-
able exultation, because the strength of divine truth, wisdom, and power is
invincible. And hence all pious and genuine sons of the Catholic Church itself
will own the efficacy and the diaphoretic celestial energy of our Illuminator
and Comforter and will perceive how He instills, or rather pours out most
copiously, His very sweet, very salubrious, and most consolatory liquor into
the marrow of their bones, yea even into the remoter recesses of their souls.
May, therefore, our catholic brethren who are truly Christian, faithful, and
distinguished by divine charity, (at a time appointed by God) be enriched by
the knowledge of this short narrative, and may they be filled with very great
consolation; and besides, may meanwhile those who duly ask, at the earliest
time which is opportune, very kindly and modestly be granted by us a reading
and an accurate, pious, grave, circumspect, and true consideration [thereof],
and may it be possible to grant this wish (especially to those to whom, because
of their outstanding love of truth, simplicity, sincerity, wisdom, and charity,
or because of their undoubted pre-eminence, by God's will and the consent
of men, the highest or some uncommon authority has been given in this
Militant Church). (With God's permission, then) I have most willingly put
this my labour into a Latin version, [translated] from our vulgar English
language (as previously most other divine conversations with us and similar
messages we had received [have been translated]). The whole text of the
narrative is partly as expressed and uttered in the divine communication;
partly it consists of my conscientious notes on every single act and of my
description of the manifold combination of circumstances.
But as the narrative, or that action, had mainly three human reasons or
(as men may think) three manifest occasions (for that Almighty and Divine
Providence has most recondite series and connexions of causes, known to God
alone) it will contribute much light to an understanding of the truth and to
a [clear] perception of the many things mentioned in this revelation if I dis-
close those three occasions, be it but briefly.
[In marg: In the year 1584] From the time onwards when the Most

228 C. H. JOSTEN
Reverend Lord, the Apostolic Nuncio, the Lord Bishop of Vercelli2 (namely
a year and several months ago) prepared his departure from His Imperial
Majesty, various rumours which had been spread about us and about our
actions with spirits, or about revelations made to us, various opinions con-
ceived against us while indeed we were absent (unheard and unknown), the
judgements and the censures of certain great men, were straightway then re-
ported to us in great profusion. And since I still have by me (from a host of
other written evidences) the fragment of one letter which was sent over a year
ago from Prague to Poland,3 it has seemed necessary to me to insert here the
full and accurate text of that fragment of the letter and then to write very
briefly on some other matters which are highly relevant [to our purpose].
'The Most Reverend Lord, the Apostolic Nuncio, the Bishop of Vercelli,
who is preparing his departure hence within only a short time, would very
much like to see Y[our] I[mperial] M[ajesty] before he leaves, as also the
Ambassador of the Catholic King, Assonitius4 (who is also hastening his de-
parture), would like to discoursewith Y[our] I[mperial] M[ajesty] concerning
the [Order of the Golden] Fleece.5 Besides, at the table of the said Lord
Nuncio various rumours were spread about Mr. Dee and various opinions
and judgements concerning him. He was blamed inter alia for not having
hesitated to offer to the Emperor, of his own accord and without having made
a request to those who have power and authority to determine [such
matters], an apparition of blessed spirits (which they, however, call and be-
lieve to be evil ones) with the aid of certain magical characters (I am using
their very words), regardless of the Church's disapproval; whereas in fact
good spirits are not enchanted and moved to appear by magical rites, but the
evil ones are usually evoked by these methods. The apparition of good
angels, however, does not happen in a distinct shape which is perceived by
human eyes, but is somehow vaguely encompassed by them while they are in
a state of ecstasy and rapture. Also [it was said] that the Imperial Majesty
had purposely recoiled from that [offer] lest he should burden his conscience
with scruples or cause some danger to his soul; he had for that reason not
wished to admit Mr. Dee to any further audience,6 but had referred him to
2joannes Franciscus Bonomo, Bishop of evidently an extract from a secretary's memo-
Vercelli from 17 October 1572 until his death randum for the Emperor. Cf. below, p. 233
on 26 February 1587 (P. B. Gams, Series and n. 16.
EpiscoporumEcclesiae Catholicae, Ratisbon,
4 Unidentified.
1873, p. 826). 5 The Emperor Rudolf II received the
3 Dee and Order of the Golden Fleece by a special am-
Kelly left Prague at some date
after 8 October 1584 and returned to Prague bassador from Spain, who arrived at Prague
from Cracow on 3o December 1584 (Casau- three or four days before 8 October 1585
bon, pp. 256, 353). (Casaubon, p. 256).
On 5 April 1585 they left Prague again for 6 In Dee's own account of the audience he
Poland. They arrived a week later at Cracow had had of the Emperor on 3 September
(Casaubon, p. 397). They were still in Poland 1584, he mentions that he offered to the
on 6 June 1585 (ibid., p. 408), but returned Emperor a full disclosure of his and Kelly's
to Prague in July 1585 (see below, p. 230). communications with God and with the
The date of i January 1585, mentioned below angels; for he had been commanded by God
(p. 230), makes it certain that the first of to do so. The Emperor then soon brought the
these journeys is here referred to. audience to an end saying that, 'at another
The text which Dee is about to quote is time, he would hear and understand more'

Mr. Kurtz.7 It was also observed that, since Dr. Dee had a wife and was
thus given to the cares of this life and to worldly matters, it would hardly be
possible for him to enjoy the intercourse of good angels, for that happened
only to very holy persons, living far away from their married quarters, and
to solitary hermits.
These censures of [certain] critics, and more things that were mentioned
there, were taken notice of by others as well as by the said N. who was present
at the meal. Be that as it may be, it is certain that the Emperor (conforming
entirely to the authority of the Church) communicated to the Most Reverend
Lord Nuncio everything that Mr. Dee had proposed during the first audience.
Thence, at length, it came to this conversation at table.
They believe in fact that the dealings [of Mr. Dee] with the Emperor
might rather have originated from another, more important, matter. I am
indeed of the opinion that they prefer one philosophers' stone to ten visions of
angels.8 However, I have thought it worth while to send all this information
to Y[our] I[mperial] M[ajesty] so that the aforesaid Mr. Dee may be fore-
warned shortly before his arrival; for (as the saying goes) darts cause less
damage if they are foreseen, and especially because, certainly, all this will
eventually also come to the notice of the Holy See, as the Lord Nuncio has
indicated. Furthermore, they all affirm, as though with one voice, that he
[i.e. Dee] was made a Doctor of Medicine in the Aula [of the University of
Prague] with a monthly stipend of forty florins by the good offices of the same
Kurtz, or that this was offered to him upon his request. While I make
enquiries on this point (as is very often done), I can neither confirm nor deny
the fact, for I have no certain information. A Spanish envoy quite recently
wanted to know from me when he [i.e. Dee] would come here. Kurtz, when
asked, praised him, saying that he is extremely learned in a great number of
(Casaubon, pp. 230-3 1). No furtheraudience patron Albert Laski, Palatine (Vaivode) of
seems to have been granted. See the next Siradz in Bohemia, that Dr. Kurtz would
footnote, adfinem. henceforth deal with him, because the Em-
SDr. Jacob Kurtz; see Casaubon, p. 354.- peror himself might miss the finer points of
On the noble family of Kurtz von Senftenau, Latin phraseology and because he was too
to which Dr. Jacob Kurtz belonged, see J. H. occupied with other business to be at all times
Zedler, GrossesvollstdndigesUniversalLexicon, free to grant an audience (ibid., p. 236). This
xv, Halle and Leipzig, 1737, cols. 2177-79; was in answer to a request for a further
also E. H. Kneschke, Neuesallgemeines deutsches audience which Dee had made on 4 Septem-
Adels-Lexicon, v, Leipzig, 1864, p. 338, where ber 1584 (ibid., p. 235).
Jacob Kurtz, Freiherr von Senftenau, is men- 8 On 22
September 1584 the angel Uriel
tioned as being 'kaiserlicher Reichshofrat' in urged Dee to send a letter to the Emperor in
1590, and 'kaiserlich k6niglicher Geheimrat which he would say: 'I can make the Philo-
und Vicekanzler' in 1593. Dee styles him sophers stone' (Casaubon, p. 243). A letter,
'sacrae Cesareae Majestatis ab arcanis Con- in which Dee then offered the Emperor to
siliis' (i.e. Geheimrat) in a letter of 6 January deliver the philosophers' stone into his hands,
1585; see Casaubon, loc.cit.; also ibid., p. 236, was dispatched to the Spanish Ambassador,
where the same rank is given to Kurtz in a Don Gulielmo de Sancto Clemente, on 29
letter of I12September 1584. September 1584 (Casaubon, pp. 246, 249)
After Dee's audience of the Emperor and by him delivered to the Emperor on
Rudolf II, on 3 September 1584 (ibid., pp. 6 October 1584 (ibid., p. 255). It is not
230-3I), the Emperor's Chamberlain, Octa- known whether any reply to Dee's offer was
vius Spinola, informed Dee through one ever received.
Emeric Sontag, who was secretary to Dee's

230 C. H. JOSTEN
subjects. Both their wives [i.e. Mrs. Dee and Mrs. Kelly] and their families
are quite well. They know that he has gone into Hungary and are, therefore,
in doubt about his return. Since they [i.e. Kurtz and the Spanish envoy]
expect his return from day to day, they have not wanted to send any letters
[for forwarding] to the wives. &c.'
Be that enough of this letter.
When I had returned to Prague from Poland,9 [in marg: on I January,
1585] the person who had written this letter was with me two days later, and
when I asked him about the letter, he not only confirmed its contents, but
also related to me several other things that had been heard in the meantime
and had been reported by persons who (as they affirmed) had themselves been
present when these things were said. I was certainly very much grieved to
hear about the altogether gratuitous blindness of men in such high places,
their gross errors, and their savage ingratitude with regard to such excellent,
certain, and most beneficent gifts of God. Yet soon a great consolation from
God was vouchsafed to us, and those lamentations of mine, which did not yet
truly resemble the ejaculations of Jeremiah [in marg: Jer., chapter 20], were
restrained.
In the month of April next following we were sent by God to Stephen,
King of Poland.10 And there we heard and said and did the things which had
been divinely revealed and commanded to us. Then (by divine orders) we
returned to Prague in the month of July of the year '85. Only a few days
after our return we received a visit from a certain great nobleman11 who
proposed to me a request on behalf of the Most Reverend Apostolic Nuncio
(Lord Germanicus Malaspina12). He asked me, to be sure, that I would call
on the Most Reverend Father who would be glad to make my acquaintance
and to win my friendship; our fame, he said, had so much and for such a long
time been resounding round his ears that he desired passionately to enjoy
some friendly conversations with us. The same great nobleman repeated to
me many times with urgency that request of the Most Reverend Lord Nuncio
(during the eight months with followed). But I answered, many times also,
that I did not wish to defer and procrastinate my calling on him out of any
haughty and proud disposition of my mind, nor because I thought to be
threatened by some suspicion on his part (though this great nobleman might
have heard of the bad reports I had received, according to which the Most
Reverend [Lord Nuncio] was preparing violence and laying an ambush for
me). I said also that I was aware of the very great controversies obtaining
between our Princes and that, on account of them, we would hardly be able
to meet guiltlessly, or at least without some suspicion of guilt, unless our
Princes gave permission. With these and other similar reasons, which were
11
9 Dee and Kelly left Cracow on 20 Decem- Magnificus quidam.
12Germanus, or Germanicus, Malaspina,
ber and arrived at Prague on 30 December
1584 (Casaubon,p. 353).- Bishop of San Severo from 27 April 1583
10See above, n. 3. Dee was received in until his death in 1604 (P. B. Gains, Series
audience by Stephen Bathori, King of Poland, Episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Ratisbon,
on 17 April 1585 (Casaubon,p. 397), on 23 1873, p. 923). See also J. H. Zedler, Grosses
May (ibid.,p. 402) and again in June 1585 vollstdndiges Universal-Lexicon, xix, Halle and
(ibid.,p. 408). Leipzig, 1739, col. 723.

not to be taken lightly, I delayed the visit thus far, yet did not refuse the
approach.
Finally, after the 20th day of last March, the Most Reverend Lord Ger-
manicus Malaspina became very severe and pressing and, through the great
nobleman (his perpetual envoy in this matter), and then again, after two days,
through Francesco Pucci13 (whose acquaintance he had made a few days
previously and who belonged to our household) urged his request most passion-
ately with some sort of apostolic command (though adding here and there
somewhat sweeter and more pleasant words) (signifying that he would rather
visit us in our house than call us to his, but that he found himself hindered by
the business of his sudden departure, so that he wished to ask us most fervently
to grant him this friendly service). So, after many agitated consultations
between me and E[dward] K[elly] about this long dragging, passionate, and
constantly repeated request (or rather complaint against our inhumanity in
not coming at last and forthwith), we resolved during the night of the last
Wednesday before Palm Sunday as follows: that indeed in the morning of
the following day (Thursday) [in marg: 27 March, 1586] about 7 o'clock we
would call on the Most Reverend Father so that we might hear at last what
he designed for us (and that he might not deem us proud, inhuman, un-
experienced, or shy); also that about 6 o'clock in the morning we would send
out Fr[ancesco] P[ucci] in advance to signify to the Most Reverend Father
this our intention. When the Most Reverend Lord had heard this from
Fr[ancesco] P[ucci] at the appointed hour, he at once had his own coach
made ready and sent to us. Riding in another coach, we met his on our way
to him, but did not enter it. When we came into the presence of the Nuncio,
we found the Envoy of the Most Illustrious Duke of Florence14 [there] who
was taking his leave. Having admitted us, humanely greeting us and giving
us his right hand, the Lord Nuncio conducted us into his room, where four
chairs were placed, and sat down. He placed me next to himself and E[dward]
K[elly] next to me; then he let Francesco Pucci sit down opposite to Edward
Kelly. At once he began to address us as follows:
'Who does not see how much the condition of the Christian religion is in
distress and danger, and how the heretics are from day to day gaining
strength? Surely, if my courage were not fortified by Christ's promise, I
should doubt its utter destruction and extinction. Things have come to such
a pass that, if the King of Spain'5 happened to die while the Catholic Church
remained in this lamented condition, Rome and the Apostolic See would be
threatened with the gravest peril. Yet it is strange that no remedy or counsel
against so great an evil can be devised, found, or obtained in this our time, in
which some men and women (who are pious members of the Catholic Church)
might receive various revelations, illuminations, and consolations from the
good angels of God and from God himself. Yet, when a diligent enquiry into
such matters was made, it was found that, so far, all such consolations are
private, not public, ones, and they are considered to be private, not public,
13 Francesco Pucci (1540-93?). It Athenae Oxonienses, ed. P. Bliss, i, London,
appears
that Pucci had met Dee and Kelly during 1813, cols. 587-89. See also below, n. 25-
their stay in Poland from April to July 1585. 14 Unidentified.
See D.N.B., xvi, pp. 442-43, and A. Wood, 15 Philip II (1527-98).

232 C. H. JOSTEN
[counsels of] reformation. His Holiness, and His Sacred Imperial Majesty
also, have explored and tried many ways to bring succour to the Christian
religion in its so mournful condition. The iniquity of the heresies rising up
everywhere and the most scandalous transformationof bishoprics into secular
dignities (as in Saxony) makes it evident how little progresshas been made up
to the present hour. Indeed, even the fruitful harvest which, it had been
hoped, would come from religious communities and seminaries is not fulfilling
our expectations, &c. Therefore, if you, gentlemen, with whom (by a singular
favour of God) blessed angels often are present, and to whom God himself
reveals His mysteries, if you have received any counsel, or if you can think of
any help to be employed against those evils affecting us all, I beg you to dis-
close them to me; I shall indeed gladly and with the greatest attention listen
to you.'
When he had thus spoken, the Most Reverend Lord Nuncio was very
eager to hear what we would say. The substance of my reply to him was as
follows:
'It is indeed true that iniquity still prevails, and that that chaste Bride of
God, who has suffered great violence, is compelled to withdraw almost into
solitude. Yet it is not in our hands to give counsel or to suggest remedies
against such great evils and so prodigious a calamity. Besides, even if it were
true that (by a singular favour of God) we very often receive informations
and instructions from the good angels of God and sometimes from God him-
self (Whose commands in former times we carried out with very great princes
of this world), yet have we not received hitherto any express advice of God
or admonition from the angels with regard to the matter now put before us;
and since (normally) such matters lie outside our province and are not subject
to my authority or office, it seems to me that I should rather be silent on them
than proffer some [merely] human judgement of mine in a business of such
great moment. We confess, however, that very great and very many mysteries
and counsels of God are known to us of which all human talents conjoined
could not invent or expect [to find] even a thousandth of a thousandth part.
God, however, so governs us by a certain curb of silence [in marg: The curb
of silence] and has so tempered our minds with the evenness of inward joy that
we are neither so careless as to prate about these matters, nor arrogantly
puffed up by the knowledge of such great mysteries. Indeed, for the most
part, we lead a monastic life, and it is with the greatest reluctance that we
let such manifest evidence of our inward joy be known. Therefore, if, to over-
come those very great difficulties [of the Church], God should hereafter please
to impart to us any advice or bestow on us any remedy, we shall be most ready
to signify it to those to whom that advice or remedy has to be communicated.
And, truly, though many months ago I would have had more leisure to call
on you, Most Reverend Father, than I have now, yet did I never desire to do
so with as much readiness and resolution as I now have.' And so, after a few
more civilities and a most definite protestation [in marg: A protestation] of
my loyalty towards our invincible Lady, the Queen of England, I ceased to
speak.
The Most Reverend Father replied that he was very satisfied with this
my reply and that he was glad we had at last agreed to meet him and to have

such agreeable conversations with him. When we had finished speaking in

such (or similar) terms, E[dward] K[elly] began modestly (of course), gravely,
and quite clearly, to explain his opinion in a somewhat longer speech:
'It seems to me that, if one looks for a counsel or remedy that might bring
about a reformation in the whole Church, the following will be good and
obvious. While there are some shepherds and ministers of the Christian flock
who, in their faith and in their works, excel all others, there are also those
who seem devoid of the true faith and idle in their good works. Their life is
so odious to the people and sets so pernicious an example that by their own
bad life they cause and promote more destruction in the Church of God than
they could ever repair by their most elaborate, most long, and most frequent
discourses. And for that reason their words do not carry the necessary con-
viction and are wanting in profitable authority. For the people think that, in
like manner, they, too, may speak good words and yet live bad lives and have
but little faith, because that, they think, is the general practice of their
shepherds, ministers, and teachers; and the life of the prelates as well as that
of the people is such that living faith and genuine charity may (in this age)
hardly find any true worshippers in God's Church. What sound religion,
what true worship of God, can thus exist amongst us? May, therefore, the
doctors, shepherds, and prelates mend their ways; may they teach and live
Christ by their word as well as by their conduct. For thus (in my opinion) a
great and conspicuous reformation of the Christian religion would be brought
about most speedily.' To these words the Most Reverend Lord Nuncio re-
plied: 'That was well spoken of you and is truly concordant with the Christian
and Apostolic doctrine. I thank you, and I shall call on you at your house
where (I hope) we may then have a longer conversation on such matters.'
So, we rose from our chairs and, having (for our part) reverently performed
the necessary ceremonies of humanity and civility, we finally took our leave
and went home. Were these not pleasant beginnings, inspired by such charity,
humility, fidelity, sincerity, and modesty as he might have used very piously
and prudently in rendering greater services to God and to the Catholic
Church, unless there was deception concealed in them? Yet, if it be true what
the Secretary of a certain great King16 (a few days ago) not only affirmed, but
swore with an holy oath, he had heard from the very mouth of the same
Lord Apostolic Nuncio (when he had his last conversations with him before
the Most Reverend Lord Nuncio's departure) [in marg: 1586, about the feast
of St. George, in April], it is quite certain not only that his reply to the speech
of my friend (E[dward] K[elly]) was a hypocritical one, but also that the
poison of vipers was concealed under his lips, and that by some divine power
a most ferocious spirit of tyranny was at that time being repressed in his heart,
although he used such honey-sweet and humble words for the beginning [of
our acquaintance]. For this Secretary swore that Edward Kelly's short speech
on faith and works (which is rendered above) had so filled that Most Reverend
Lord with inward fury that he had said, if it had not been for certain respects,
16 Presumably the secretary of the Emperor above, pp. 228-30) and who acted as Dee's
Rudolf II who, in 1584, had sent a copy of a informant on I January 1585 (see above,
memorandum written by him for the Em- p. 230).
peror to Dee, then staying in Poland (see
16

234 C. H. JOSTEN
he would have had the said Edward thrown out of the window. If that
Secretary (who himself wishes to be accounted a catholic) did swear the truth
(to our friend Pucci), what may we hope [to receive] from the hands of that
Apostolic Nuncio (or his like), if, by any decree of the Catholic Church or by
any law or custom of the Kingdom of Bohemia in which we now live, or by
any precedent of the Holy Roman Pontiffs, it be lawful to use such language,
in the presence of prelates and men of note, against us and on account of
loyal and true friends of ours, against free men from another country who
are pilgrims (by God's command). What would they do to us (not only try
to do) if we were accused of any (and be it the least) crime, when such a
tyrannical death, nay such barbaric murder, may be wished on men who are
truly catholic, and quiet, who lead an almost monastic life, who are not under-
taking any innovation in God's Church by word or by writing, who have not
been accused of any crime, and whose utterance, on the contrary, was openly
praised [by the Nuncio] although it had (as he said) quite fiercely annoyed
him. The Most Reverend Lord is reported (by the testimony of the same
Secretary) to have added yet a few things of greater importance (concerning
the matter pending between us) when he was going away. You will soon hear
[about them].17 But whatever he or anybody else should have said, or decided
to do against us, Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who is our
Lord, our preceptor and guide, this God himself will be our protector and
liberator in [this] our [condition of] innocence, our obedience and that loyal
and sincere reverence which we have shown and will show to him [i.e. the
Nuncio], to all our superiors, and to our most chaste mother, the Catholic
Church. For thus we understand Christ's teaching; thus the [Holy] Spirit,
who is Almighty God and proceeds eternally from God the Father and God
the Son, has taught and teaches us, as this brief narrative abundantly proves.
We have said that we must report three occasions known to us in greater
detail. The first of them, which has already been related, seems to encompass
the two others and the whole fundamental setting of the revelation (because,
as its consideration shows, it precedes as well as follows the events of that
time). For between our first opportunity of exchanging greetings with that
Most Reverend [Nuncio] and the different formula with which he threatened
us at the time of his departure, there arose those two other occasions now to
be added; it will be enough, I think, for a wise and pious reader if I touch
upon them but briefly.
On the second and fourth days of the present month of April [in marg: viz.
on the Wednesday and Friday before Easter], Edward Kelly (who previously
had for several days prepared himself by a strict fast and great devotion of
mind to ease his conscience of the sins with which he felt burdened and to
cleanse his soul) betook himself to a certain Jesuit priest, who was a Professor
and Lecturer in Theology and who was appointed to administer the sacrament
of confession to the penitent, so that, after a candid confession, a humble act
of contrition, and after performing the penance enjoined on him by the priest,
he might enjoy the salutary [effects of the] sacrament of penance and could
then (according to the Roman Catholic rite) partake of the highest mystery
17The translation of the last two sentences of two words inserted above the line, abiens
depends on the somewhat uncertain reading dicitur.

[of the Church] and the celestial table. Yet, look, what unexpected event
happened.
When E[dward] K[elly] had said all to the priest that he had intended
to say, that priest began to enquire curiously about more and more things
which to mention here would neither be to the point nor give you pleasure.
The priest insisted and tried to make E[dward] K[elly] acknowledge himself
guilty of a certain very great crime which [allegedly] he had not yet confessed.
E[dward] K[elly] denied it, even denied it steadily, and explained plainly that
in the previous year he had discovered abundantly, accurately, sincerely, and
fully to a certain other Jesuit from Cracow all the crimes and grave errors of
his entire antecedent life, that he was then wholly cleansed and absolved,18is
that his sins weighed heavily on him as a perpetual burden, and that (other-
wise) he would most justly deserve infernal punishment; he asserted that this
was his firm conviction; and that (after careful casting up the circumstances
of his life) he had already confessed seriously, honestly, and piously to his
present spiritual father any grave and dangerous wound that had been in-
flicted on his conscience from that time onwards. What more need I say?
At last the priest went so far as to charge E[dward] K[elly] with crime or sin
because we had said (nay, had vainly boasted, he alleged) to my Lord, the
Apostolic Nuncio, and elsewhere, also to the Spanish Ambassador [in marg:
the Most Illustrious Lord William de Sancto Clemente19] that we often had
conversations with good angels and with God himself and received from them
many revelations.20 E[dward] K[elly] acknowledged that in fact we had
received, and still were receiving, many consolations by divine and angelic
revelations; but the priest contended that it was not probable or credible that
we should have any intercourse with good angels; on the other hand the devil
very often transformed himself into the semblance of an angel of light and,
therefore, one had to consider that we might be deceived. E[dward] K[elly]
replied that, from very sound arguments and also by the testimony of the
Holy Scriptures, we knew for certain that we had dealt, and were dealing,
with genuine angels of light and truth, and with loyal helpers. I shall leave
out many other arguments he used and only want to mention this one: that
by the authority and testimony of the Holy Spirit [in marg: i, John, chapter 4.
A] any spirit, who owns that Jesus Christ has become flesh, is from God; yet
all the spirits who gave information to us, or taught us, do own that Jesus
Christ has become flesh; therefore, that all the angels informing or teaching
us are from God; that we are prepared to swear an holy oath and to assert
until our very death that the minor proposition be true; that most copious
volumes contain the evidence of our revelations; that, therefore, our angels
are not angels of the infernal regions-'Your judgement (Father) is not sound,
but at the most a suspicion founded on probability. Consider [it again].' No
sooner had those our volumes been mentioned, than this priest seized the
18 Edward 19 Unidentified.
Kelly 'tooke Ghostly counsel
and comfort, as his case required' on 20 April 20 Cf. Dee's account of his conversation
1585 at Cracow and, on Easter Monday next with the Spanish Ambassador on 25 Septem-
following, 'very devoutly' received the Holy ber 1583 (Casaubon, p. 257), which bears out
Communion at St. Stephen's Church, Cracow this last allegation of Kelly's Father Con-
(Casaubon, pp. 397-98). fessor.

236 C. H. JOSTEN
opportunity to demand that we should hand them over to be examined and
judged by the Most Reverend Lord Nuncio, by the Rector of the Jesuits,21
and (thirdly) by himself. E[dward] K[elly] replied: 'I think that neither
could you judge them, nor should you claim authority to pronouncejudgement
on those revelations. For all such authority as you have belongs to the Church
Militant, and our revelations should not be interpreted by members of the
Militant Church, but by those who are the shining and holy lights of the
Church Triumphant. Therefore, they are not subject to your authority.' The
priest replied (quoting I Corinthians, chapter 6A): 'Do you not know that
we shall sit in judgement over angels?' To this E[dward] K[elly] replied: 'It
is possible that the Apostles, being with Christ the Judge, deemed the devils
were, and would be, most rightly damned. But I do not believe that you
(Father) are an Apostle, nor that any successor of the Apostles be denoted
by that saying of Paul. Besides, only evil [spirits] will be subjected to that
judgement, not good ones. Yet, truly, our angelic preceptors are good and,
therefore, they are not, and will not be, answerable to judgement. No angels
will, for that reason, be judged by you (Father) in accordance with that
Pauline sentence. We, however, (who are subject to your ecclesiastical
authority) do not teach, or write, or indeed believe, or shall ever believe, any
doctrine contrary or repugnant to the catholic, apostolic, and orthodox reli-
gion. All the messages which we receive [by revelation] tend chiefly to the
praise, the honour, and the glory of God; they continually exhort and even
guide us to a betterment of our life, to piety, and to the practising of peace
and charity towards our neighbours. It is certainly true that they contain
many wonderful mysteries and secrets which are given only to us and not to
others. Those [volumes] are our private documents and our introductory
lessons in a celestial school. We talk about them most unwillingly and only
when we receive a divine command or permission to do so. Besides, those
books are not in my hands (said E[dward] K[elly]), but are kept in the custody
of my friend, the Doctor.'22 When the priest had heard this, he tried at once
to influence E[dward] K[elly] by a certain fraud and stratagem so that he
might, as it were, wrench those books from my hands. E[dward] K[elly]
detested the impiety of the priest and altogether refused to follow that nefarious
advice. At last, E[dward] K[elly] became so heated in his zeal that he pro-
posed to the priest the following experiment and test of the truth: 'May you,
Father, and I (he said) go to some convenient and secret place. Let us then,
each after his own manner, invoke Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and
earth, and pray to Him humbly and ardently that, if our angelic preceptors
be good and from God, fire from heaven shall consume and destroy you,
Father; but that, if they be bad angels of the infernal regions, the fire from
heaven may most rapidly destroy me and wipe me from the face of the earth.'
The Father refused to adopt this choice and to try out that stipulation; he
said he did not wish to tempt God in this manner.
21 Unidentified. by the good offices of Dr. Jacob Kurtz, the
22 I.e. John Dee. Kelly's remark confirms degree of a Doctor of Medicine had been con-
to some extent the information which the ferred on Dee by the University of Prague;
Emperor's secretary reported in a memo- see above, p. 229. The origin of Dee's claim
randum to the Emperor according to which, to a doctorate has hitherto been doubtful.

Finally, that Father turned to the exploration of other matters and asked
for what reasons we had come, as no revenues were being supplied to us from
England. (He assertedthat there indeed we were accounted very odious men.)
By virtue of his present authority he enjoined most severely on E[dward]
K[elly] that he should disclose to him the truth of this matter. E[dward]
K[elly] replied: 'Although I know, Father, that this question is beyond your
authority, yet do I wish to obey you, Father, because you are a minister of
God Almighty, and because it is in the name of God that you ask me in this
extraordinary manner and demand an answer. Know then that, by doing
this and that (true and clear details were here mentioned) and by divine
favour, we have so far been amply provided with sustenance and clothing.'
When, thereupon, many yet sharper words had been exchanged between that
Father and E[dward] K[elly] concerning his answer (as well as other matters),
partly (during four uninterrupted hours) on the aforementioned Wednesday,
partly on the Holy Friday next following, they had both given enough trouble
to each other. The Father, at length, did in no way want to bestow on
E[dward] K[elly] the benefit of absolution. 'The matter of your revelations
(he said) must be examined by an authority higher than mine, and I cannot
persuade myself to grant you remission of sins.' 'Do at least (said E[dward]
K[elly]) purge me of the blemish of those crimes and sins which I have piously,
devoutly, and humbly confessed to you.' Yet not even that he could obtain
from him. E[dward] K[elly] realized in these circumstances that he had to
withdraw. How irreligiously (I will not put it more strongly) E[dward]
K[elly] was used, the Catholic Church will certainly find out in good time.
A careful consideration of the events which followed will show that it was
necessary [for me] thus most briefly and faithfully here to commit to writing
what E[dward] K[elly] related to me on the two occasions when he returned
from that priest (and in particular some details which had nothing to do
with his sacramental confession, but which the priest, very improperly and
unlawfully, had asked and said). Surely, all pious and true catholics will be
grieved with us that, whilst pure religion is so very sadly afflicted, so great a
scandal should have arisen in the Catholic Church from which the fruit of
the true, pure, and very great charity of God (namely a remission of sins and
peace of conscience) should have issued. True Christians will feel sorry that
vinegar and bile should have been supplied when, and where, the oil of glad-
ness was expected from the blood of the Lamb that takes away the sins of the
world. The Jesuits, mostly devout and peaceful men, will grieve that, at
the centre of almost the most distinguished part of the Christian world, so
poisonous an egg should have been laid whence, one must fear, a most horrid
basilisk, a great danger to very many people, will be born if it be hatched
much longer and be fomented with further bilious matter. The Samaritans
also will grieve that this wounded Christian, who was earnestly seeking advice
about his wounds and was lamenting not to but to the one common
and
himself, should have received
of souls of the Catholic
surgeon physician Church,
from him no healing oil [in marg: Luke, 1o, F] or wine, but should have been
required by that physician, in an importunate and almost hostile manner, to
hurt with an arsenical probe, or with caustics, such members of his inner man
as were most sound, while his real wounds were either treated with contempt

238 C. H. JOSTEN
or not examined. What I have said here will be enough about that important
second reason of the divine revelation which followed.
[In marg: The third occasion] A very brief explanation of the remaining
(third) cause will, I think, provide you with enough clear light to consider
and understand entirely the divine revelation which then follows, o pious
reader who art a lover of divine truth. A short while after these controversies,
dissensions, examinations, and quibbles (which took place under the pretence
of a confession) and others (which I have not mentioned, and need not mention
here), on the Tuesday after Easter,23when E[dward] K[elly] was sitting at a
meal with a friend of his (a citizen of Prague), it was enjoined upon him by a
spiritual voice that he should arise and at once betake himself to his spiritual
father. The friend, at whose table he was then sitting, (a future witness), and
two Jesuit Fathers who had been sent for, accompanied him thither. He then
modestly, quietly, and truthfully called to mind the things which had been
discussed, disputed, and considered between him and his spiritual father, and
did so in a manner which gave those witnesses a clear idea of what both had
said and informed them (where possible) of the very words that had been
used on either side, so that never any false rumours might be spread, or
erroneous reports and conjectures be made about these matters, and that
what really had been said might, as far as possible, be established by the
consent of each witness. Having at once put the food out of his hands and
left the meal, E[dward] K[elly] rose silently, and his friend with him, to the
astonishment of all present. They left the house and directed their steps to
the College of the Jesuits. On his way, E[dward] K[elly] was warned by a
spiritual voice declaring, 'Unless you take care, Ossa24 and Pucci will deceive
you and will render your design fruitless.' E[dward] K[elly] then at once
informed his friend of all this. When they had reached the College and
E[dward] K[elly] had asked the janitor whether certain Fathers and whether
the Jesuit, who was his spiritual father, were at the College, the janitor said
they were. They entered; but, when E[dward] K[elly] and his friend had
been inside for a while, behold, Ossa and Pucci were coming towards them;
they curiously asked E[dward] K[elly] for the reason of his coming. 'I have
to speak to some Fathers [he said] and to my Father Confessor.' They desired
no less than that E[dward] K[elly] should then speak to them (as was acknow-
ledged by Fr[ancesco] Pucci the following night) and unexpectedly tried with
all their art and assiduity to prevent his meeting [the Fathers for whom he
had asked]. They would, Ossa [said] have a servant sent out to find the
Fathers and to bring them to the small heated room (which Ossa was occupy-
ing there for only a few days). They urged E[dward] K[elly] that meanwhile
he should listen with them in their school [i.e. the Jesuits' school] to the
splendid and painstaking declamation of a certain student. Remembering the
spiritual warning [he had received], E[dward] K[elly] was aware of their sly
designs, yet hoped all the same that they would find and call those Fathers
whom he wished to see. But when, after the end of the declamation, E[dward]
23 I.e. on 8 noble family of Ossa (or Osse) see E. H.
April 1586.
24 Dee mentions 'Master Balthasar Federick Kneschke, Neues allgemeines deutsches Adels-
ab Ossa' in a note for February 1585; see Lexicon, vii, Leipzig, 1867, p. I.
Casaubon, pp. 381-82. For an account of the

K[elly] enquired more precisely about those Fathers, he was told they were
not in the house and could not be found. It would hardly be possible to say
how much E[dward] K[elly] was then stricken with grief, because he had not
heeded that divine command and had not acted with as much caution as had
been advised, also because a man living with us at our house [i.e. Pucci], who
was in some degree privy to our mystical concerns, had so much favoured our
adversaries as to render fruitless our very honest and pious endeavours.25 His
grief and his immoderate zeal to carry out the business enjoined upon him
then so excited E[dward] K[elly] that Fr[ancesco] Pucci told us after our
meal (in the evening of the same Tuesday) that he was much satisfied with
the outcome of that day, inasmuch as E[dward] K[elly] had not seen those
Fathers whom he had wanted to see, because (he said) the ashen appearance
of E[dward] K[elly's] face had made him realize that he had come with so
restless and irascible a mind that even greater quarrels might have followed.
When Fr[ancesco] Pucci had thus spoken, E[dward] K[elly] went hot [with
anger], because Pucci rejoiced for the very reason that made E[dward]
K[elly] grieve; because he had said that E[dward] K[elly] had come to see
those Jesuits in a restless and irascible condition; because Pucci had been
so bold as to wish to obstruct his divinely ordained endeavours; because
Fr[ancesco] Pucci perhaps wished to triumph before his [friend] Ossa over
having vanquished E[dward] K[elly's] earnest assiduity by his own deception
and cunning; and above all because that opportunity had passed unused at
which the proceedings of his [i.e. Kelly's] confession might have been ade-
quately established before witnesses, while the memory of the very words that
had been spoken was still fresh ([the more so] because that Father Confessor
had previously said that the matter of the revelations must be examined by
a higher authority). And, behold, E[dward] K[elly] then began to be in-
flamed with such very fierce indignation, such vehement and furious passion,
that Fr[ancesco] Pucci (almost) feared his last hour had struck. And yet when
E[dward] K[elly] (during this most passionate fit of anger) had carefully con-
sidered that all this had resulted from a curious error of Pucci who, seeing the
expression of E[dward] K[elly's] face, had presumed (as Pucci himself owned)
not only to interpose his inconsiderate judgement, but then also to obstruct
God's will by his actions, he [i.e. Kelly] at once sent a servant to fetch that
friend of his who could be an undoubted witness of the whole design, of the
divine command, of the forewarning, and indeed of the whole event, a witness
most necessary at the present hour for a just condemnation of Pucci's bold,
inconsiderate, and curious, judgement and performance. Woken up in his
bed, in the middle of the night, that loyal witness, who had not been fore-
warned or suborned, came at once. I was allowed freely to examine this
witness, while all others were silent and listening attentively. He testified that
25 In a note relating to Dee's stay at Erfurt adherents'. He did, therefore, at that time,
in July 1586, he mentions that [at Prague] not wish to renew any kind of companionship
Pucci had not been 'acceptable to our wives with Pucci, whom he also blamed 'as well for
and family' on account of his 'Houshold be- his unquiet nature in disputations, as for his
haviour'. By July 1586 Dee had come to blabbing of our secrets without our leave, or
suspect Pucci as 'a mighty Explorator upon well liking, or any good doing thereby'
us, for this Nuncius Apostolicus, and his (Casaubon, p. 430).

240 C. H. JOSTEN
E[dward] K[elly] had been very quiet during the meal; that with him he
had gone today to the Jesuits' house or College with the intention of furthering
quietness, peace, and truth; that there they had encountered Ossa and
Fr[ancesco] Pucci, and that both these had in various ways frustrated Master
Ed[ward] Kelly's design, precisely as a spiritual voice had beforehand signi-
fied to Master E[dward] K[elly], and as he had told him on their way. When
the results of this examination had made Fr[ancesco] Pucci realize that
E[dward] K[elly's] honest design had been divinely enjoined upon him and
had been received by him with a quiet mind, also that all the other circum-
stances (mentioned by the witness) were established by sufficient evidence, he
was in a much calmer condition of mind than previously. And after that
honest witness had gone away, Fr[ancesco] Pucci realized that he had been
mistaken in his physiognomical judgement, also that a divine order and man-
date had intervened. All this filled him with much regret. He added: 'If
you had warned me that in this matter you had received an order from the
Lord, I would certainly not have hindered you.' Then he said (on bended
knees and extending his hands towards heaven): 'I wish to make amends to
you in every possible way.' Presently, a spiritual voice near E[dward] K[elly's]
head admonished him saying: 'Do forgive him.' Then, instantly, E[dward]
K[elly] said: 'I forgive you', and soon after that we all went to bed, for it was
past midnight. Having thus explained the three occasions (already men-
tioned) of the subsequent revelation, as they appeared to us, I shall yet add
a few other things that may show the method by which those [occasions]
afterwards became conspicuous as causes in the operation of that subsequent
revelation. Early in the morning on the Wednesday (next following), a
spiritual voice addressed itself to E[dward] K[elly] which forbade to the
three of us the eating, during the whole of that day, of any animal food (thus
enjoining on us a light fast) and which commanded us to repair on the
Thursday next following, at eight o'clock in the morning, to our usual place
of assembly there to perceive the Lord's will. So we fasted as had been
prescribed and waited with much eager hope for a divine visitation.
And on Thursday, the tenth day of the present month of April [in marg:
i o April, 1586] at about eight o'clock in the morning, we came together in
the usual place, i.e. in my oratory, which is at the top of the tower, a small
heated room, truly elegant and commodious. There, on bended knees, I
spoke (in the name of all of us, as our common advocate before God) 'In the
name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit' (making the sign of
the Cross after my custom), namely taking my extended right hand from the
forehead to the navel and from the left shoulder to the right, thus tracing
two invisible lines. At the upper end of the first I speak the name of the
Father, and when I almost touch the navel that of the Son; while I trace the
transversalline in the middle, I speak the name of the Holy Spirit; and while
I say Amen,I touch, or mark as it were, the point of intersection of those two
lines, or the centre of the cross. (I have conceived many reasons for this my
fancy.)26 Then I recited clearly and distinctly the Lord's Prayer Pater ]'oster
etc. and thereupon spoke these words: 'Almighty, Sempiternal, True and
Living God, send out Thy light and Thy truth which may guide us safely to
26 Cf.
Antwerp, I564, theorem XX, fols. I8v-20.
John Dee, Monas Hieroglyphica,

Holy Mount Sion [in marg: Mount Sion] and to Thy celestial tabernacles
where we may praise and glorify you eternally and for ever and ever. Amen.'
Then, silently, I recited and repeated three times the (67th) psalm Deus
misereaturnostri et benedicatnobis etc.
And a short while after that, when the three of us were seated (I ready to
write; Ed[ward] Kelly [sitting] opposite at the same table (a new and very
fine one); Fr[ancesco] Pucci [sitting] on a bench along the wall of the
oratory), there descended from on high, with some sort of spiritual sound, a
voice, near to the face of E[dward] K[elly]. It seemed to him that this voice
had the centre of its utterance not far [in marg: at a distance of about one
foot] from his mouth and thence touched his ears with words that were
certainly English (so that their power and proper significance might much
more exactly and certainly be conveyed to us). All these communications I
have recorded as faithfully as I was able, and with no small labour, in the
Latin report which follows, and have explained them in such a way that, in
this my Latin version, no one versed in both languages might detect even so
much as the smallest tittle differing from the genuine sense of that which was
declared to us. Let us now lend then our ear to the words of the Holy Spirit
which are very full of the highest consolation.
The voice: 'Lo and behold, raise yourselves and consider &c.'
as is set out in
the following account.
The voice: 'Lo and behold, raise yourselves and consider: Thus speaks
He who is the Comforter, Whose candle is always there to delight His people,
Who has covered the sons of Sion and their garments with joy, Who has
gathered together the nations under the comforting shield of His wings; I,
who am ready [to fight] against the seat of darkness; Who cannot be van-
quished by those who have erred, by those who will die and not live, and
who will abide in everlasting pain. Behold, I am the garment of Nature27
and that Mother who produces the fruits of heaven and earth.28 And behold,
Sion (which dwells in me, and in which I dwell) is shattered to pieces by the
hands of disobedient sons; her garments are rent, her loveliness is shrouded
in darkness, and her statutes are imprisoned among the multitude and the
impious. Yet lo and behold, o you nations and peoples of the earth, o you
sons of sin and defenders of darkness, I am now a widow. For My Bridegroom
already prepares His return; the fame of His coming has spread to the hearts
of all peoples; and 29has pervaded your hearts and the hearts of those
who are the sons of faint-hearted men. Where, then, will the terrestrial gods
protect you, or hide you, against the coming indignation? Where will you be
welcome, when the heavens fiercely stare at you?
27 The idea of Nature's 'garment' may have (Understanding), which is often called the
some connection with that of the astral body, Mother. See The Zohar, translated by H.
or xrrov (garment), of the Neoplatonists. Cf. Sperling and M. Simon, ii, London, 1932,
Proclus, The Elements of Theology, ed. E. R. Appendix 'The cosmic scheme of the Zohar',
Dodds, Oxford, 1963, pp. 182, 183, 313-21. P. 397; v, London, 1934, Appendix 'The
28 This
symbolism may result from an iden- designations and the categories', pp. 402-4.
tification of the third person in the Trinity 29 In the
original, too, the missing subject
with the third cabalistic sephira, Binah of this sentence is replaced by a line.

242 C. H. JOSTEN
Where may you be safe when you are confined and brought before the
tribunal ofjudgement? Surely, indeed, in your own consciences, in the mani-
fold injustices with which you have defiled the light of the sanctuary and of
the Spirit30Who proceeds from eternity. I lament over you, for the Lord is
in arms against you and has marched out towards your cities.
And, look, all evil will come over you from the north, and such as for a
time are preservedwill abduct your wives and sons, and they will be oppressed
in servitude until the last day. I lament over you, and I sigh over your
destruction. For thus He has sworn who sits in judgement over all flesh.
O you hypocrites and painted sepulchres, o you eloquent and persuasive
thieves, behold, behold, your arrogance will be taken away from your shoul-
ders, so that your nakedness may be conspicuous. And the temples you have
erected with your hands will be thrown to the ground, nay will be destroyed
from their very foundations, so that satisfaction be given to the souls clamour-
ing vengeance against you for the blood they have shed for your sake, and
that the beast may perish by reason of the multitude of its heads.
O you (impious brood) who are more concerned about your political
affairs than about the salvation of your souls, who make the world advance
and scorn Him who has created you, who burn with love for all abominations
and indeed attend with hatred on the God of your creation and of your
redemption.
As Satan has seduced you, why do you undertake to sit in judgement
against Him who has subjected all creatures unto Himself?
Direct your eyes upwards to the stars and tell the people: Look, I under-
stand, His letter is the end of the word which means a prescience of God, in
the obedience of creatures, in the fulness of time.3 You are ignorant. You
cannot read. You tie God's Spirit to the imbecility of your understanding
and you do not consider the power and splendour of that Spirit Who is the
life of all things and from Whom descends your authority.
Yet you, faithful ones and sons of peace, o you who serve your Sempiternal
Father (as with the obedience of a son) you shall today learn from me:
At the beginning of the Faith, a promise of God was made from out of
Heavenas from the place and from the foundations of Him who sends out the
rays, and the abundance, of His truth.
When the Love of God had gathered together Its people, It widely opened
2. Its handsfromoutof Heaven;and behold, those who had been in captivity were
set free, but those arrogant in the fancies of their hearts were overthrown.
[In marg: I Kings, chapter 8] When the people began to neglect the favour
3. granted to them from Heavenand to attribute more to the imbecility of their
own governance than to the hand of Him Who had exalted them, behold, a
King was given unto them Who was similar to them and Who (since he was
the firstling of their palpable ignorance and incredible arrogance) died before
their eyes, a mysterious symbol, as it were, of their own destruction [in marg:
i Kings, chapter 31].
For, behold, the people of Israel were dispersed on account of their dis-
obedience. The subsequent kings were mighty and wise, at least those who
30Dee had first written Spiritum,then wrote word Spiritum.
31 An
Spiritusabove the line, but did not delete the unexplained cabalistic allusion.

feared God. Yet those who were unwise and who despised the knowledge
4. sentfrom aboveignorantly subjected themselves to [the rule of] imbecility (and
let the strength and the greatness of Him be forgotten Who had reared them).
And so, in the abundance of their idolatry, they were overthrown.
The books of the Law and the mouths of the Prophets attested in a message
5. sent down from heaventhat at that time Jesus (called Christ), the Son of God,
God and Man, (by whose Spirit you are now being comforted) was to be born
through the strength of the Holy Ghost (Who is the Spirit ofyour present consola-
tion)from a well-prepared virgin.
When angels brought the glad tidings of peace and consolation to the face
of the earth, they did not take it to Jerusalem, nor to the Temple, nor the
Holy of Holies, but they took it to the fields and amongst poor shepherds.
When Christ was about to be born (from her who was the chosen vessel),
He was not taken to the Temple and was not extolled by the scribes and
pharisees, but by the Spirit of God (the Spirit of Him Who had taken habita-
tion in her). He was led forth to that small city [of Bethlehem] so that the
[prophetic] words which had previously been said about Him might in Him
be fulfilled.
When those who, before God, were accounted wise men had gained
knowledge of the star and, by it, had directed their journey, behold, they
were enveloped in darkness, so to speak, when they were at Jerusalem, and
their light was taken from them. Yet indeed, as soon as they had left Jeru-
salem, their consolation was restored to them and guided them to the place
where they found Him in Whom they were to be saved.
The Saviour of the world Himself (in Whom you are saved and exalted
by the honour of election) was immediately subjected to the tyranny of the
world and to the perversity of [the powers of] darkness.
Why did He not betake Himself to the Temple? Why did He not manifest
Himself by a multitude of signs and miracles as the One Whose coming was
expected?
Because God is wisdom, and because He came to carry out the will of His
Father which is not determined by human traditions, but by His Sempiternal
Divinity.
Yet, behold, in the end God Himself reverted and declared His authority
in the very Temple and the very city of Jerusalem by ejecting [in marg:
Mark i i, B.] the sons of iniquity from the presence of His Father and from
His Father's house which His servant David had hallowed.
Thus, precisely, God proceedswith you, whom He has sworn to make great by the
fire of His Power.
honourof His right hand and in the vehement
He is soon to return to this world to chastise it for the multitude of its
abominations and to comfort those who are at rest and live in Him.
And the ones who will be chastised are those who have become scribes and
pharisees, the hypocrites and sons of all abominations, those who disgrace the
truth that was manifested by the Apostles, those who, to all people, are the
certain authors of iniquity. They will be punished and will not receive con-
solation; for they have drunk from the cup of all fornication and abomination.
Accordingly, they shall not be admitted to be judges (for they themselves
will be condemned) and to sit in judgement, because they are not to be

244 C. H. JOSTEN
justified. For they have sold for money the spirit of truth, which the Apostles
(their predecessors)had taught them not to do. They have defiled the instru-
ments of sanctity (by which the people should be sanctified).
And, behold, they have scattered the seeds of their Father, who is coming,
over all daughters of the earth, so that their own seed is accursed.
And, therefore, the God of heaven and earth appears to you; to you who are
shepherds, placed outside the polluted city; to you who desire to find the star
and seek the visitation of Him Who will be coming to you, you who have
fled from the hands of Herod. Yet you will return to the Temple, [armed]
with the scourge and the power of God, and you will eject those who justify
themselves. May the mighty hand of God be great amongst you. Yet the
fulness of time has notyet come. [In marg: The fulness of time has not yet come
for our power to be made manifest.] Therefore, even as Christ kept himself
in obscurity, even as the Virgin Mary (whom they hold out to you) was
content [to be] with the Lord and did not seek the opinion of those who
were of the Temple, but only wished to attend their ceremonies, even so you
will be rendered content.
For in that which you receive you are subject to Him Who is alive. Yet,
to the extent you are of the number of men who receive consolation, you are
subject to the Holy Spirit, inasmuch as you may be purified, comforted, and
exalted through the sacraments instituted by Him. Submit yourselves to the
Church to the extent you are of the Church. Yet, in so far as you are of those
who receive consolation from on high, submit yourselves to Him Who teachesyou,
Who is the Spirit of the selfsame Church,thoughin a greaterabundanceof love, Who is
the Holy Spirit proceedingfrom Father and Son, Who was from the beginning and
before all beginning, Whose name you should glorify within yourselves and
amongst yourselves.'
A: 'Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, now
and evermore, world without end. Amen.'
The voice: 'Read this, and I shall visit you again.'
A: I read the foregoing to the two persons present, namely to Master

Edward Kelly and Francesco Pucci, and thereby great consolation was
bestowed on us, and we were strengthened in our courage.
After a short while the voice again began to be heard.
The voice: 'Behold, the Lord answers you. The Lord makes answer to the
censures brought against you and says:
"O you hypocrites, you tell, indicate, and declare to Us, or try to devise,
designs for a renewal of the afflicted Church and of the multitude [of the
people], so that the Church may not perish after the death of a certain
person N., at which time, you think, it will be in great danger.32 If you cannot
achieve this by the doctrine you receive, then that doctrine is not from the
Holy Spirit and not from any good spirit. I tell you, this doctrineis taught, and
the Spirit of God descendsto restore,and to put into good order, the people andflock of
God. [In marg: The one aim of our doctrine which is put before us by God.]
32
I.e. after the death of the King of Spain. See above, p. 231 and n. 15.

No such restoration can take place unless first you be extirpated. Therefore,
you will be extirpated and eradicated [in marg: A prophecy] and the Church
of God will be cleansed so that He may descend and dwell in it. If anyone
has the spirit that pleases you and is serviceable to your inclinations, he will,
amongst you, be deemed to have the Spirit of God. But you all have become
gods and mighty giants, and you are full of the spirit of your father, the devil.
Whoever, therefore, endeavours to please you, will partake of that spirit, the
spirit in which you will in the end be confounded and who will be confounded
at the same time as you. You will understand by this message that, here, the
Spirit of God teaches against you, for it does not teach a doctrine that suits
your desires, but one which tends to correct your faults. All fornications and
abominations are increased by you. You are priests by name, yet do not
perform the duty of the sacerdotal office. You are on the Holy Mountain,
but you have defiled it and have suffered your own filth to go over and lie on
those herbs and fruits of the place which were provided for the people subject
to your authorities. For that reason you will be dashed headlong to ground.
And that strong wind which has been promised by the Lord will cleanse the
holy place, so that fruits may grow there in abundance and that its waters
also may be purified for the consolation of all nations.
I shall (therefore) not stand trial in your courts, nor shall I acknowledge
that you are judges. But I shall preach penitence to you, for you can be freed
from the punishment prepared against you and your iniquities. Whosoever
has ears may hear. Whosoever wishes to be wise may look neither to the right
nor to the left; neither towards this man who is called a catholic, nor towards
that one who is called a heretic (for thus you are called); but may he look
up to the God of heaven and earth and to his Son, Jesus Christ, Who has
given the Spirit of His abundant and multifarious graces to those who live a
natural life in purity and a life of grace in their works. Behold, the courtesan
will be justified! But the hypocrite will be cast off and trodden under foot.
For where there is no name, there is truth; and where there is abundance of
name, there truth lies concealed. Happy he who understands; happy he who
takes refuge neither in Judah nor in Israel, but in the sanctuary of the Lord,
through Jesus Christ, His Son, and through the peace of Him Who is the
Comforter.
For, behold, iniquity prevails, and all flesh is called to be questioned before
the tribunal. Whoever (therefore) is in the uppermost place of his house, let
him not descend, nor let him who lies in one bed with his brother arise from
his brother's side; because the sword of wrath and indignation of Him, Who
justifies all those confiding in Him, is ready to strike out against His own
house as with a rod of correction and against the impiety of arrogance and
sin as if it were the last punishment of sin and impiety. Blessed is he who
lives, who is wise and fears God, who learns from His creatures and from the
testimony of truth, and who is not full of human fancies that would cause
his eternal death. Amen."'
A : 'May God grant to us that blessed condition. Amen.'
The voice: 'I return.'
* * *

~246 C. H. JOSTEN
I read out this (as it were) second act [of the revelation] in the presence
A•:friends
of my (E[dward] K[elly] and F[rancesco] P[ucci]) and, as soon as
I had stopped reading, the divine voice began to resound again in the ears
of the said Edward with the following words:
The voice: 'Again', said the Lord, 'who is he who has covered and pro-
tected you? Or who is he who teachesyou? Is he not the Spirit of Truth? For, if
the Spirit of Truth covers you and your nakedness, why do you uncover
yourselves and throw off the garments of that obedience and patience which
is necessary to your vocations?
If you be taught, and if your doctrine be, from Heaven, why then are
not your works likewise celestial?33
Behold, you are filled with wrath and
malice, you are full of a zeal which is
not right and agitated by a spirit of
restlessness. None of these descends
from Heaven. You are, therefore, still
subject to the tyranny of the flesh and
to carnal fancies. Fie upon you. You
are worthy to be scourged and punished
for your errors. For you are a scandal to Him Who teaches you, and you
give offence to the peace of which He has made you participants. Divest
yourselves (therefore) of your flesh and its desires, nay cast them away, and
replenish yourselves with a spirit of general obedience and humility, truly
loving and cherishing one another after the manner of Him Who loves you.
Be glowing with zeal in the fulness of hope and in the enjoyment of a general
obedience. For any zeal not founded in obedience is indeed odious in the
eyes of God and those of any zealous man. He who lacks knowledge should
be instructed, and you should explain your understanding to the ignorant.
For ignorance aiming at charity is more excellent than knowledge combined
with an overflowing of wrath and anger. He who toils should do so in accord-
ance with the will of the person who sent him, and likewise he who was not
sent should toil in accordance with his own will and yet assert: this is the will
of my Lord. For whoever wills that which is good seeks it in the [divine]
glory, and that glory is exalted in the Spirit of Patience by the reward of Him
Who was injured on account of your injuries. You have both of you gone
astray: the one [misled] by curiosity, the other by the blindness of [his] zeal.
Therefore, if somebody be curious in that which has been committed to him,
let him be so curious; but let him not lay hold of anybody else's office. For
whoever touches the Ark unbidden [in marg: 2 Kings, chapter 6], will be
accounted an offender (before the Lord).
If anybody be animated by zeal, let him show his zeal in the fruits of
obedience and in a spirit of humility, doing all things in that strength of grace
which embellishes both peace and men that have been exalted.
And, as you have one God, so be you of one mind.
33In Dee's Latin version (MS. Ashm. 1790, some illustration or diagram in the English
fol. I5) an oblong area is here left blank original.
which, one may presume, was occupied by

For you are three, not two; and your vocation is one and the same, but
your offices differ from one another.'
. E[dward] K[elly]: 'The seer may (then) foretell when the time is to come
that will be after the harvest and the harvesters [in marg: Apocalypse, chap-
ter 14, D].'
2. A: 'He who writes down and records the words of the Highest, may he,
in the fulness of time, show forth their strength, through the strength and
support of Him Who has exalted him.'
3. Fr[ancesco] P[ucci]: 'May he who has been called as a speaker abound
in good works, so that he may be distinguished before his hearers and exalted
in Him Who has sent him.'
[The voice:] 'So then, whoever neglects his vocation may be ejected, and
his place may be occupied by another. But to him who does the will of Him
Who is teaching (which is the will of the Creator of all things) abundant grace
will be granted.
May you, therefore, have abundance of peace and of repentance; may
you be rich in fruits, and may you love one another with such love as He has
Who embraces you all in His love. For where that love is wanting, the Spirit
of God is absent. He indeed fills everything with abundance of charity, which
is the natural and necessary desert of human kind, and without which there
is no happy man.
Consider all this more attentively. Then
refresh yourselves and revive. For you
have received consolation.
In the second hour after your recreation
I shall yet visit you again.'
A: 'All praise, honour, and glory be to our Creator, Redemptor, and
Comforter. Amen.'
[In mnarg:io April] Just after midday on the same Thursday (after our
meal), at the appointed time, a voice smote the ears of E[dward] K[elly]
and spoke.
The voice: 'Come.'
A: We then repaired speedily to our oratory (the accustomed place of
divine visitation) where, after reciting a short prayer from the Psalms, we
waited for the word of the Lord.
The voice: 'Lend your ear.'
A: For a few minutes there was silence after these words.
The voice: 'He who rises against his neighbour with intent to rob him of
those goods he has brought together by his labour and by honest means, like
a bandit, or like some unlawful person snatching together things that do not
belong to him, sins against the law of Nature, which is God's law; against the
law of justice, which is the law of precept; against the law of the Gospel of
God's Son, which is the law of the Lord. And for such a sin he must be lashed
with the rod of justice.
Yet he who rises against a neighbour of his (when that neighbour has

248 C. H. JOSTEN
received a command and consolation from on high) and resolves to deprive
him of the benefits of Grace, he is bound to be damned and deserves the
infernal fire.
For whoever resists the Lord Jesus or His Spirit is accursed unless he
repent.
Now, listen to my voice, therefore, and understand today what I shall tell
you, so that your enemies may learn that they are fighting against Him Who
has created and redeemed them, and by Whom they are fed.
Raise yourselves, therefore, and lend your ears to my voice.
I have led you forth from the accursed tribe of those who are inflated
with pride, those innovators who resist the law and ordainment of the Holy
Church, which is the ordainment ofJesus Christ, true God and Man, the Son
of God, to Whom by His Father the strength and the sword of all power was
given over the multitudes of heaven, over all flesh, and over all creatures
whatsoever. By performing miracles, and with a strong hand, I have led you
forth and put you in this place. I have made manifest to you the bread of
understanding and of wisdom and (since I am the Spirit of Wisdom) I have
instructed you in the knowledge of Christ, which is the science of all things.
I have taught you the medicine healing the wickedness of sin and I have
revealed to you matters that are hidden even to the Church. For, as I am
sempiternal, so My power is sempiternal, and, in truth, never do I pour out
the whole wealth and inscrutable depth of My limitless wisdom to any one
man, at any one time, in any one age, to any one people, or century.
Those, therefore, who lived their lives by the law of Nature, received from
Nature as from the finger of God.
Those who lived under the yoke of the law acquired a knowledge of sin
through the law.
Lastly, those who lived, and still live, under Grace receive the Spirit of
God, but not all of them in the same manner, because not all souls are endowed
with equal fortitude, nor are all places equally blessed.
So, according to the necessity of the time, I have provided you with bread
while you were asking for stones. And while you were pursuing the fancies of
your hearts (which savour of the flesh), I have opened your eyes so that you
might discover your own palpable errors and follow Him Who paid the price
of your redemption.
Considering now that I have educated you as pupils of, as it were, a
celestial school and vocation, it is incumbent on me to defend you and to
protect you by My invincible wisdom and strength, overthrowing the idle
fancies of men in the fulness, and at the very height, of their damnable pride.
Arise34 then. Place before me the books and all that whichyou have received
from Me, and then you will learn what else I shall tell you and how, by one
look, I shall destroy the eyes of your adversaries at the very time when they
think they see most sharply.'
A : I rose, went downstairs, and fetched all records and volumes (which
had been dictated to us, during four years continuously,35 by God and by
84 The letter A, here written above the 35MS. Sloane 3188 and MS. Cotton,
line, indicates that this command was ad- Appendix XLVI.
dressed to Dee.

His holy angels), my own writings, and some other things. I fetched them
(I say) in an oblong, white box (3 feet (almost) in length, 1I foot wide, and
3 foot high). I did not, however, fetch the table often called the Table of the
Covenant.
The voice: 'Gather your books together (indeed those which stand up (or
have a spine)), from the first to the last, and also the one you have now in
your hands (with the exception only of the action of the present day) and
place them here before me.'
A : 'What shall I do (o Lord) with today's action?'
The voice: 'Cut it out of the book.'
A: 'And what shall I do with the Holy Table?'
The voice: 'Do as you have been commanded.
Sunder the books apart, each by itself, and place them on this table.'
I sundered the books, or rather those folio-volumes which were either
bound or decently sewn together (27 in number), and then (having cut out
this present action)36 I added the volume which was at the time in my hands,
and so they were twenty-eight in all (namely four times seven) [in marg: 28
volumes]. And they contained (as in a continued narrative) all the things
which, from the first hour of our (namely E[dward] K[elly's] and J[ohn]
D[ee's]) conjunction until the present hour, had been revealed and shown to
us by God's faithful angels and by God Himself. And in one of those 28
volumes there were 48 individual books, most mystical and (as God Himself
is witness) more valuable than the value of all things in the whole world
might be accounted.37 For in them the admirable divine wisdom and power
were contained which, at a time determined by God, we must use to His
honour and glory. There was another volume (among the 28) which was
ancillary to those 48 individual books; its title was '48 Claves Angelicae',
and it was entirely written in the angelic language.38 In another volume (of
those 28) we had a most clear interpretation thereof in our English tongue.39
In addition to those 48 individual books there was a very short one, which
book was the Mystery of Mysteries and the Holy of Holies ;40 for it alone
contained the profoundest mysteries of God Himself and of the Almighty
Divine Trinity that any creature will ever live to know. Its key was not yet
granted to us.
Another volume (among those 28) contained that wisdom and science,
with which Enoch (by God's will) was imbued;41 where there was also some-
thing agreeing with the testimony of the Apostle Judas (about the prophecy
of Enoch).42 In some of those 48 books there were contained (besides very
36 The original text which Casaubon used Ashmole's hand, is found in MS. Sloane 3678,
(MS. Cotton, Appendix XLVI) is too neatly fols. 1-13.
re-bound to allow any excision to be notice- " This book remains unidentified. The
able between the end of the action of 6 August manuscripts mentioned in the preceding foot-
1585 and the beginning of the 'Liber Resur- note contain, in interlineations, an English
rectionis', dated 30 April 1586 (part ii, fols. translation of the angelic language.
40 This book remains unidentified.
I33-35).
37 This book remains unidentified. 41 The original, in Kelly's handwriting, is
38 48 Claues Angelicae. Anno 1584. Cracouiae. now MS. Sloane
3189. A copy is found in
The original, in Dee's handwriting, is now MS. Sloane 2599.
MS. Sloane 3191, fols. 1-13. A copy, in 42 Cf. Jude, 14-16.
17

250 C. H. JOSTEN
many other things of inestimable value) all sacred books, full and perfect,
[in marg: note] all those books, I say, which, after and before the incarnation
of Christ, had been written by the Spirit of Truth.
And what other matters were comprised in those books I do not consider
lawful to disclose or mention in detail (or even summarily) before the time
determined by God. Yet it seemed very opportune and necessary to me here
to commit to everlasting memory some account (of those 28 volumes), and I
hope that this will not displease Almighty God. When, then, I had separated
the aforesaid volumes (as I had been commanded) and placed them on the
table, I spoke as follows:
A: 'Have I now (o Lord) entirely fulfilled Thy command?'
The voice: 'You (Kelly) shall bring hither also the little black bag, the
book, and the powder which you have hidden.'
A [in marg: To the pious reader]: I think that, in accordance with the
truthfulness of this narrative, I should mention here something concerning
E[dward] K[elly] and those objects (which had been entrusted to his custody).
This command of God was so unexpected to Ed[ward] Kelly and so little to
his liking that his heart was very much overcome with helpless amazement.
All the same, he was firmly resolved to render obedience to God, though the
flesh was somewhat reluctant. It seemed to him that the joints of his spine
(near the hip-bones) were being torn apart, and he was greatly tormented by
pains such as, he asserted, he had never suffered in all his life. We prayed to
God that He might render him strong in faith, willing in obedience, and
compliant. He felt such vehement internal pain, and the struggle of the flesh
against the spirit was so upsetting, that, when the pain and the contest were
at their highest pitch, E[dward] K[elly] ejaculated this sentence: 'O Lord,
I did not receive this from Thee.' We exhorted him to be obedient to God
and to fill himself with undoubting faith in the promises which God had made
to us in the past and which He had often confirmed to us by His inviolable
oath. He (E[dward] K[elly]) replied to me: 'The spirit is willing to fulfill
this command of God (nay, I should rather say, it would be, if now, by God's
will, I had to die); but forgive me, and may God forgive me, that my flesh
should thus manifest its weakness and invent a delay.' After thesewordshe
suddenlyrosefrom his seat, went away quickly, returnedand broughtthat little black
bag containing the book and the powder aforementionedand placed them on the
table beside the 28 books. The little bag was new; it was made of black fustian
[in marg: in English, Black Fustian; in German, Berkat] (to be precise) and
was provided with new black braces to close its opening, after the manner of
certain purses. The capacity of the little bag was such that it seemed to me
apt to contain one peck of wheat. The book (a volume comprising two indivi-
dual books on different subjects) and that holy powder had been assigned by
God not only to the two of us (to E[dward] K[elly] and to me, A) and to
our children, but also to other servants of God; and, before a certain time
determined by God, they were not to be put to any use by us, by any kind
of practice. The custody of that great treasure had been entrusted to E[dward]
K[elly]. [In marg: The holy stone of the philosophers]. There was this
mystery of Nature and Art, of which arrogant and proud philosophasters and
the greater part of the learned are wont to maintain that it cannot be made in

any way. We may, therefore, most justly judge, dijudicate, and condemn by
most certain evidence that very great pride of the worldlings and their ignor-
ance. Truly and in God, I do assert that the performance and the power
(inherent and emanating) of this treasure are so great that the treasures of
all Christian Princes and Kings (collected together and conjoined) could not
be regarded as equal in value to even a tenth part of it.43
So I encouraged E[dward] K[elly] with a few words and admonished
him that he should recall the faith of Abraham who, when God commanded
that he should offer Isaac as a holocaust, although God had previously
promised him that in Isaac [in marg: Genesis, chapter 21 B] he would be
called to seed and propagation, did not hesitate to offer as a holocaust this
his only son, the future ancestor (by [divine] promise) of the progeny which
he was to bless. [In marg: Genesis, chapter 22. Theodoretus, in Quest. Geneseos
says something to this effect: When Abraham was divided between his nature
and his faith and inclined now in this, now in that, direction, he at length
gave the victory to his faith.]44 He did not try to argue after human fashion
(by comparing the promise to the command) that God was not constant to
him, or that He was attempting to bring about an act contrary to Nature.
Likewise [I told Edward Kelly] we, too, must not hesitate to obey humbly
and quickly the command of God Who now desired us to return to Him
those books and our other treasures; and since we were entirely certain that
God is loyal and most constant in keeping His promises, anything that God
would do about, or with, those books and treasures would all be to His glory
and praise. [I also told him] that our consolation was great and would at
length lead to a reprehension, or punishment, of our enemies. When I had
finished, I said to God:
A: 'Behold (o Lord) Thou hast here that little black bag, with Thy
property (the book and the powder) inside. We desire to know what further
Thou wishest may be done with them.'
The voice: 'May the world not vanquish you,45 and may you not value
riches (human fancies) more than obedience to My will and command.
Look, how hard is it to abandon the world?
And, since all things are mine, why did you want to sayyou had bynomeans
receivedthisfrom Me?
But I tell you, do not move until it be commanded to you. For the place
is holy. And God will today make a certain promise to you of which you do
not know yet. [In marg: God will make a new promise to us.]
Look, you have yet kept back a certain part of the book, which you will
in like manner bring here, so that you may not be [accounted] shameless,
and that you may shake off the world.
He who loves creatures more than the Creator is blind, ignorant, and
43 Cf. MS. Sloane

3188, fols. 90v, I03v, Cologne, I573, i, pp. 19-20, 'Cur Deus
where the powder is mentioned in actions of tentavit Abraham, quum omnia praenoscat?'
18 April and 5 May 1583. 45 The letters E.K. here inserted above the
44 Cf. 'De Selectis Scripturae Sacrae line indicate that the voice was addressing
Quaestionibus ambiguis . . . in Genesin', in itself to Edward Kelly.
Beati Theodoreti,CyprensisEpiscopi . . . Opera,

252 C. H. JOSTEN
without light, and, for that reason, he is to be excluded and to be thrust out
of the door, when the Bridegroom comes.
Whatever I may command you today, take care you do it.
Place the books which lie here also inside the little bag.'
A: E[dward] K[elly] put all those 28 books (or primary volumes) in the
same black bag and closed it (tightening the braces as usual).
The voice: 'Now you, Kelly, will rise and you will remove the stones from
the mouth of that furnace, and where those stones now are you will place
this. When it is done, return.'
E[dward] K[elly] rose from his chair and removed from the mouth of the
furnace 4 or 5 fire-baked lateral facings (by which the warmth of the fire was
the more perfectly kept within the furnace, and by which the inconvenience
of cold air and wind coming in was prevented). He placed the little bag
inside the mouth of the burning furnace, in the very place where previously
the aforesaid fire-baked stones had been, and so returned to his chair.
The voice: 'Now rise and bring hither what remains. Do not conceal
anything.'
A: E[dward] K[elly] went and fetched some manuscript quires consist-
ing each of four sheets (folded in 8o). The writing seemed very old and was
in a larger character than our common script. He had cut them out of the
volume which had been entrusted to his custody (viz. from the last mentioned
book, not from [any of] the former). When he had brought them and had
again sat down with us, the Lord spoke thus to him:
The voice: 'Rise and throw [them] into the furnace.'
A: '(O Lord) dost Thou wish them to be put into the very fire or on
top of the little bag, o God. He is willing (o Lord) to be obedient to Thy will.'
The voice: 'Rise, Pucci, join him, and see to it that he puts them into
the very fire and, besides, that he also thrusts the little bag and the books
after them.
You will not withdraw until the fire entirely penetrates them.
Do I not resuscitate the dead?
Go then, and have45a faith.'
[In marg: The holocaust of all that which, from the beginning of the
world, had been most precious.] A: They arose and went to the furnace.
First they threw into the burning fire those quires consisting of four sheets.
Then, boldly and briskly, they pushed the little bag into that fire. (While
they were thus occupied at the mouth of the furnace,) I raised my voice to
God on bended knees and rendered thanks to our God with great joy, glad-
ness, and exultation. I prayed that He might augment and confirm our faith;
that we might in no way have doubts about the most generous promises He
had previously made to us; and that, to the honour and glory of His name,
He might make us most certain witnesses and servants of His wisdom, patience,
and goodness. Meanwhile, they applied themselves eagerly and gravely to
the completion of the holocaust. They threw into the furnace very light and
dry pieces of firewood and very fine chips of timbers and beams in great
quantity, stirred the heap of books with a small staff and an iron spit, lifted it,
45a The letters E. K. here inserted above the itself to Edward Kelly.
line indicate that the voice was addressing

and laid it open, so that the fire might the more easily consume all and
convert into ashes and embers whatever would be combustible. And when
they had so busied themselves for almost a quarter of an hour, E[dward]
K[elly] heard a voice saying to him:
The voice: 'Tell Pucci now that he shall enter (viz. into the oratory).'
[A:] Pucci joined me in the oratory and, on bended knees, he poured
out with me prayers of thanksgiving etc.
As soon as Pucci had entered, E[dward] K[elly], who was standing before
the mouth of the furnace (now fully ablaze), signified to us in a loud voice
that he was seeing the shape of a man (only from the midriff upwards) walk-
ing, as it were, hither and thither among the flames, but that his face did
not appear to him.
'It seems (said E[dward] K[elly]) that, with his right hand he is gather-
ing, or plucking off, something from the tops of the flames. Now I can see
clearly that he is recovering from the flame the leaves of books, leaf after leaf.
Now he seems to have put together a whole book.'
And (after a short while) he said: 'And now he seems to be holding a
second book in his hand, yet I do not see where he might have laid away the
first.
Now I see that he has collected yet another book among the tops of the
flames.
And now it seems to me that, with his fingers, he is shaping from the tops
of the flames a small box, with the powder [inside].
He goes on collecting leaves from the tops of the flames.
Now he seems to have [brought together] two further books; but I cannot
see at all where all these things go.'
'Now indeed that man has disappeared very suddenly,' said E[dward]
K[elly].
When all things had been consumed by the fire (that could be consumed)
and when this vision had come to an end, E[dward] K[elly] came towards us
and said: 'Come, Pucci, see and judge.' He went, considered, and came back.
'It appears to me', he said, 'that nothing is left, except ashes and stones, very
few pieces of live coal, a few embers of leaves of paper, the froth of the fire
deposited on the sides of the furnace.'
The voice: 'Now you shall add the other things.'
A: 'What other things shall I add, o Lord?'
The voice: 'Books . -. Whatever there remains on paper, you shall burn
in the same manner as you have burned the former.
The other things you may keep, as I shall teach and instruct you before
you leave.'
A : 'Is it Thy wish that we burn also this rolled-up and sealed fascicle
(which, by Thy command, we took from Fr[ancesco] Pucci) ?'46
The voice: 'No.'
46 This paper is referred to as Pucci's 're-
Upon Dee's inquiry, the voice answered:
cantation written with his own hand' in Dee's 'The rest that wanteth, shall be restored unto
notes of the 'action' of 30 April 1586. It had you: even unto the least and last letter.' See
not been among the papers which were Casaubon, pp. 419-20; below, p. 256.
restored to Dee and Kelly the day before.

254 C. H. JOSTEN
A: 'Shall I add this writing (a small part of the book of Enoch which
Thou hast given to me)? Dost Thou want this document also to be burned?'
The voice: 'You shall not burn it.'
A: Then I set out on the table all remaining loose and unbound papers
and sheets, a great many (all received by divine dictation), and did not let
one sheet remain that had any writing on it. They [abovetheline: E[dward]
K[elly] and Fr[ancesco] P[ucci] ] took all those charts and papers and threw
them into the glowing furnace, and very quickly they were ablaze and were
burned by the fire . Then they reported this to me, whereupon I said
with my whole heart:'.
A: 'Thus I [offer to Thee,] our Almighty, Sempiternal, and Living God,
Who art our protector and liberator, this welcome and acceptable sacrifice
of our obedience. Amen.'
A: Immediately upon this, the divine voice spoke the following words,
which were received by E[dward] K[elly] (our seer) and [by him] expressed
to me:
The voice: 'Behold, I swear by Myself that not one letter will perish of
whatsoever has been committed to the fire. And as I have the power to rouse
up glory for Me from nothing, so I have power to collect together what has
been brought forth by Me. Therefore, when, later on, the tyranny of those
men ceases, collect yourselves and make a prayer before Me, invoking the
name of the Father in the name of Jesus, His Son. And be aware that, as
thesethings wereput into thefire, in the same wayyou will receivethem again. [In marg:
A restitution of the things burned and committed to the fire is promised.] And
not one letter of that which I have spoken will perish.
Yet, because they assert that you have intercourse with the enemy of
mankind, My visitation upon you has become a cause of offence to them.
The more so, because the mysteries of Heaven cannot be discovered but
to those whom I choose and whom (by My vocation) I put apart from the
others.
And also, because they will not understand, but will be buried in ignorance
(for no one receives from the Father unless he have the merit of faith, nor is
anyone approved but he to whom justification has been granted).
For that reasonI haveprostratedthem in the midst of theirfancies.
So much so that now they would like to learn. They will be told as in the
parable the rich man was told: they have Moses and the prophets; what
other doctrine from Heaven need they have? They have the testimony of the
Son of God, but they lack the Spirit of Understanding, and, therefore, I say
to them: o you men of little faith, o you who sit in the Temple of Justice,
yet are defiled by every kind of wretchedness, the Lord visited you, and you
did not notice it.
Behold, He made an offer to you, but you declined.
He called you, but you are the sons of negligence and disobedience. Now,
make an end of it and keep quiet.
For I shall go forth into their midst and shall overthrow them in My great
indignation. I shall strike them, and they will be dispersed, so that they may
know they have offended the Spirit of the Lord, Who gives bountifully to all
those invoking the name of the Father in the name of His Son, Christ.

For the rest, you will not be troublesome to them, and you should no
further speak against them, but grieve for their sake, and pray to your Father
Who is in Heaven that His mercy be poured out over all His creatures.
Be obedient to their authorities, as to those who sit in the seat of justice.
Worship God in his saints, yet mostly in His Son, Jesus Christ. Worship
Him in all His creatures and praise His name.
If they afflict you, bear it patiently and expect My coming. [In marg:
A : The coming of the Holy Spirit at a certain future time has often been
promised to us.]
(Lastly) be full of humility and obedience. And do not cease to pour out
prayers to Him Who is the Spirit of Understanding, so that your eyes may be
opened, that you may become celestial and enjoy abundance of the splendour
of Him Who imparts eternal life and grace.
The wisdom and the peace of God be with
you in Jesus Christ, His Son. May it defend
and instruct you in all manner of piety and a
quiet life.'
A: 'Amen.'
The voice: 'Take both stones out of their mounts47 and keep them apart.
Suspend the table at the end of the hall, that end where there is a chapel of
the enemies. Suspend it in that very place.'
A: 'Mayest Thou, o Lord, declare this more clearly to me.'
The voice: 'Suspend it on the bare wall, and inside a wooden box, so
that it may at all times be before your eyes as a token and memorial.'
A: 'Who is as our Lord Who comforts His humble
sons, Who enlightens, guides, protects, and liberates
them? He alone, the Almighty. He alone is wise. He
alone is good.
May He arise in His strength so that His enemies
are dispersed and perish before His face. For He is the
King of Kings, the Lord of those who have dominion,
and the King of Glory. To Him alone be every praise,
honour, and glory, now and for evermore, world with-
out end. Amen.'
The voice, which Dee believed was that of the Holy Spirit, certainly had
every kind of flattering and optimistic comfort in store that Dee could have
desired to hear. We cannot decide in this paper whether Kelly was consciously
a most subtle impostor or the victim of a mental illness which made him
regard his visions and utterances as genuinely inspired by divine agencies.
Nor can we pass judgment here on Dee's astonishing credulity.
It remains to summarize very briefly, from Casaubon's edition and the
47 ex . . . orbitis, suggesting that the mounts seances, were placed on the 'Holy Table'.
were circular. Dee and Kelly had several See Casaubon, 'The Preface' [pp. 28, 45-47] ;
stones, probably circular or spherical crystals, also Ashmole's marginal note in his own copy
for skrying purposes, which, during their (MS. Ashm. 580, 'The Preface' [p. 45]).

256 C. H. JOSTEN
annotations in his and Ashmole's copies thereof, some events which followed
immediately on those related in the hitherto unnoticed action of i o April 1586
and its preface:
At about 1.30 p.m. on 29 April 1586, Kelly noticed from the gallery of his
chamber the head-gardener, and foreman of the workmen, of a Mr. Carpio as
he seemed to be pruning some trees in Mr. Carpio's vineyard; 'at length he
approached under the wall by E. K. and holding his face away-ward he said
unto him, Quaesodicas Domino Doctori quod veniat ad me. And so went away as
it were cutting here and there the trees very handsomely, and at length over
the Cherry-trees by the house on the Rock in the Garden he seemed to mount
up in a great piller of fire.' Mrs. Kelly, whom her husband sent down into
the garden, did not see anybody there. Dee and Kelly then descended into
the garden together, but they, too, could not find the strange gardener any-
where, who, Kelly presumed, must be 'some wicked spirit'. After a thorough
search, Dee suddenly noticed from a distance 'a faire white paper lying tossed
to and fro in the wind' under an almond tree, and then, to his great joy, he
found lying there three of the books 'which were so diligently burnt the tenth
day of April last', namely:
(i) the Book of Enoch (see above, n. 41)
(2) the '48 Claves Angelicae' (see above, n. 38);
(3) the 'Liber Scientiae terrestris auxilii & victoriae'. (The original, in
Dee's handwriting, is now MS. Sloane 3191, fols. 14-3 Iv; a copy,
written by Ashmole, is preserved in MS. Sloane 3678, fols. 14-3Iv.)
The books showed no sign of ever having been in, or near, the fire (Casaubon,
p. 418).
Half an hour later, while Dee and Kelly were sitting under the almond
tree, 'the self-same Gardiner like person' appeared again (this time perhaps
also to Dee). His face was again averted. He bade Kelly follow him, and
Dee remained sitting still to await his return. The 'gardener's' feet did not
appear to touch the ground and, as he went before Kelly, all the doors seemed
to open before him. He conducted Kelly to the mouth of the furnace in the
oratory at the top of the tower where all the books and papers had been
burnt. 'And coming thither, there the spiritual Creature did seem to set one
of his feet on the post on the right hand without the furnace mouth, and with
the other to step to the furnace mouth, and so to reach into the furnace (the
bricks being not plucked away which stopped the mouth of the furnace, all
saving one brick thick) and as he had reached into the furnace there appeared
a great light, as if there had been a window in the back of the furnace, and
also to E. K. the hole which was no greater then the thickness of a brick un-
stopped, did seeme now more then three or four brick thickness wide, and so
over his shoulder backward he did reach to E. K. all the rest of the standing
Books, excepting the Book out of which the last Action was cut, and Fr. Pucci
his Recantation, also to E. K. appeared in the furnace all the rest of the
papers which were not as then delivered out. That being done, he bade E. K.
go, and said he should have the rest afterward. He went before in a little fiery
cloud, and E. K. followed with the Books under his arm all along the Gallery,
and came down the stairs by Fr. Pucci his Chamber door, and then his guide

left E. K. and he brought me the Books unto my place under the Almond-tree'
(Casaubon, pp. 418-i9). There is no record of the restoration of those books
and papers, and of the powder, which were not returned on this occasion; but
one of these books, the one out of which the minutes of the action of io April
1586 had been cut, is now certainly in the British Museum (MS. Cotton,
Appendix XLVI); the powder of transmutation is mentioned as being again
in Kelly's hands in an action of 18 April 1587 (Casaubon, p. i i [of a second
pagination, beginning at the end of the book]).
On 6 May 1586 Dee left Prague for Leipzig where he arrived on i i May
following (Casaubon, p. 421). From Leipzig he wrote on 14 May 1586 to
Sir Francis Walsingham, then Principal Secretary of State:
'Nuncius Apostolicus, (Germanicus Mala Spina) after his yeer's suit unto
me to be acquainted with me, at length had such his answer, that he is
gone to Rome with a flea in his eare, that disquieteth him, & terrifieth
the whole state Romish and Jesuitical' (Casaubon, p. 423).
On 23 May 1586 he was informed that, shortly after the i ith of May, the
newly appointed Papal Nuncio, Philip, Bishop of Piacenza, had submitted to
the Emperor a document in which he, Dee, was accused of necromancy and
other forbidden arts (Casaubon, p. 424); the Pope, Sixtus V, had sent to the
Emperor a 'commandment by Letter' to extradite Dee and Kelly and to send
them to Rome for interrogation (Casaubon, p. 430). Pucci then tried by
various ruses to persuade Dee and Kelly to accept protection from the Nuncio
and to go to Rome of their own accord, but he failed (Casaubon, pp.
430-34).-
On 30 May 1586 Dee received an imperial decree, dated 29 May 1586, expel-
ling him, his family, and Kelly, from the Kingdom of Bohemia and from the
other dominions of the Emperor; it was delivered by a clerk of the imperial
chancery and left them 'onely six dayes warning' (Casaubon, p. 428). Dee's
next moves are for the most part unknown; he stayed for short periods at
Erfurt, Gotha, and Cassel (Casaubon, p. 434). On 8 August 1586 the Emperor
granted to Dee's newly acquired friend, disciple, and patron, Prince William
of Orsini-Rosenberg-Crumlau, who was Viceroy and 'obrist Burggraf' of
Bohemia,48 'licence for us to return into Bohemia, to any of his [i.e. the
Prince's] Lordships, Towns, Cities, Castles &c.' (Casaubon, pp. 418, 433-34),
and so, for the time being, Dee and Kelly were safe. Shortly before 19 Septem-
ber 1586 they arrived at the castle of Trebona, or Wittingau (Casaubon,
p. 444), one of the Prince's many residences in Bohemia, where they remained
for about two years.
4*See J. H. Zedler, Grosses Vollstdndiges Universal-Lexicon, Leipzig and Halle, i747,

li, col. 554-


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An Unknown Chapter in the Life of John Dee

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The narrator fervently wishes the pious and faithful reader

When it was enjoined on me by God Almighty to commit those things to

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try; or if somebody should not be ashamed to condemn these (mysteries

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such agreeable conversations with him. When we had finished speaking in

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A: I read the foregoing to the two persons present, namely to Master

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This content downloaded from 138.130.67.116 on Sun, 5 Oct 2014 21:10:15 PM

This content downloaded from 138.130.67.116 on Sun, 5 Oct 2014 21:10:15 PM

This content downloaded from 138.130.67.116 on Sun, 5 Oct 2014 21:10:15 PM

This content downloaded from 138.130.67.116 on Sun, 5 Oct 2014 21:10:15 PM

This content downloaded from 138.130.67.116 on Sun, 5 Oct 2014 21:10:15 PM

This content downloaded from 138.130.67.116 on Sun, 5 Oct 2014 21:10:15 PM

43 Cf. MS. Sloane

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This content downloaded from 138.130.67.116 on Sun, 5 Oct 2014 21:10:15 PM

This content downloaded from 138.130.67.116 on Sun, 5 Oct 2014 21:10:15 PM

This content downloaded from 138.130.67.116 on Sun, 5 Oct 2014 21:10:15 PM

This content downloaded from 138.130.67.116 on Sun, 5 Oct 2014 21:10:15 PM

4*See J. H. Zedler, Grosses Vollstdndiges Universal-Lexicon, Leipzig and Halle, i747,

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