★ Dee, John [1527-1608]. A true & faithful relation of what passed for many yeers between Dr. John Dee (a mathematician of great fame in Q. Eliz. and King James their reignes) and some spirits: tending (had it succeeded) to a general alteration of most states and kingdomes in the world. His private conferences with Rodolphe Emperor of Germany, Stephen K. of Poland, and divers other princes about it. The particulars of his cause, as it was agitated in the Emperors court; by the Popes intervention: his banishment, and restoration in part. As also the letters of sundry great men and princes (some whereof were present at some of these conferences and apparitions of spirits:) to the said D. Dee. Out of the original copy, written with Dr. Dees own hand: kept in the library of Sir Tho. Cotton, Kt. Baronet. With a preface confirming the reality (as to the point of spirits) of this relation: and shewing the several good uses that a sober Christian may make of all. By Meric. Casaubon, D.D. London, printed by D. Maxwell, for T. Garthwait, and sold at the little north door of S. Pauls, and by other stationers. 1659.
In folio (32 cm), [ ]2 A-E4 F-I2 K4 ✳6 (Table ed errata) B-Z4 [aa]-[hh]4 [ii]6 Aa-Mm4 ✳Aaa-✳Bbb4 Ccc-Fff4, cc. [40], cc. [3 fuori testo con incisioni in metallo, 1 delle quali ripiegata], pp. 104, 109-256, 353-448, 45 [1], cc. [1 bianca]. Ritratti in metallo dopo la carta del titolo, bianca al verso; la carta ha il titolo di The order of the inspirati ed ha la firma di Fran: Cleyn [Franz Cleyn] invent. I ritratti sono di Mahomet, Appoloni Tyaneus, Edward Kelly, Roger Bacon, Paracelsus e John Dee. La pagina del titolo, bianca al verso, è stampata in rosso e nero. Gli “spiriti” con cui dialoga John Dee sono il Re di Polonia Stefan Batory [1533-1586] e Rodolfo, Imperatore di Roma [1552-1612]. Le prime [29] carte contengono il titolo, i ritratti e la Preface di Meric Casaubon, al termine della quale si trova il Post[s]cript. Capilettera, testatine e finalini xilografici. Alcune incisioni geometriche nel testo. Note a stampa al margine.
Cenni biografici sulla vita di John Dee sub Monas Hyeroglyphica (scheda n. 2100).
Non si tratta tecnicamente di un testo di astrologia, che ho però registrato per l’immanente presenza di John Dee, considerato astrologo, ma in realtà più mago.
Esemplari (non esaustivamente): Bodleian Library, Oxford; Balliol College, Oxford; All Souls College, Oxford; Hertford College, Oxford; Jesus College, Oxford; Christ Church Library, Oxford; Corpus Christi College Library, Oxford; Merton College, Oxford; Worcester College, Oxford; National Library of Wales; Birmingham Central Libraries (2); Birmingham University; British Library; Cambridge University; Cambridge University Fitzwilliam Museum; Cambridge University Gonville and Caius College; Cambridge University Magdalen College; Cambridge University Jesus College; Cambridge University Pembroke College; Cambridge University St. John’s College; Cambridge University Trinity College; Cantherbury Cathedral Library; Trinity College Dublin; Durham University; National Library of Scotland; Mitchell Library, Glasgow; Glasgow University; Innerpeffray by Crief; Lichfield Cathedral Library; Peterborough Cathedral Library; Worcester Cathedral Library; Sir John Soane’s Museum, London; Longleat House, Warminster; The National Trust, Swindon; Wellcome Institute for the history of medicine Library; Manchester University; BNF; IDS Zentralbibliothek Zürich; Koninklijke Bibliothek; Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Wien; Staatsbibliothek Berlin; Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Bibliothek, Hannover; Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel; Thüringer Universitäts und Landesbibliothek, Jena; Niedersächsische Staats und Universitätsbibliothek, Göttingen; Russian State Library (2); UCLA Library, Los Angeles; Henry Huntington Library Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California (2); Getty Center, Santa Monica, California; University of California, Berkeley; Yale University, Medical School; Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington; Library of Congress; College of Physicians of Philadelphia; Library Company of Philadelphia; University of Texas, Austin; University of Wisconsin, Madison; Northwestern University, Illinois; Newberry Library, Chicago; University of Kansas; Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; New York Public Library Research; Harvard University, Houghton Library; Carleton University; Cornell University, New York; Dartmouth College Library; Williams College, Massachusetts; Boston Athenaeum; McGill University, Osler Library, Montréal, Québec; McGill University, Human and social Libraries, Montréal, Québec; Simon Fraser University, Canada; University of Guelph, Canada; University of Alberta, Cameron Library, Canada; University of British Columbia, Koerner Library, Canada; University of Victoria, McPherson Library, Canada; University of Victoria, Pratt Library; University of Western Ontario; Bibl. Nacional de Chile, Santiago.
Bibliografia: Caillet I 2878.