A Letter, Containing a Most Brief Discourse Apologetical

In this printed open letter, addressed to John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, the aged John Dee defended himself against the reputation that dogged him for much of his life: that he was a conjurer who dealt with devils. Writing from Mortlake in 1595, after his return from central Europe, Dee protested that his studies had always been lawful, Christian and philosophical. He presented a summary of his career and a list of his printed and unprinted writings on mathematics, navigation, geography, astronomy and other subjects, as evidence of a lifetime’s learned service to the Crown. He lamented the plundering of his great library at Mortlake during his absence, which he said had contained around four thousand volumes, some seven hundred of them manuscripts. He included a 1548 testimonial from Cambridge University to his good character, made a solemn declaration of his faith and loyalty to Queen Elizabeth, and closed with a prayer and a request for the archbishop’s judgement. The letter was printed by Peter Short in 1599 and was reprinted by Meric Casaubon at the head of A True and Faithful Relation in 1659, ironically alongside the spirit diaries Dee had not mentioned. It is a key source for Dee’s self-presentation and for the late-Elizabethan anxieties about magic, natural philosophy and reputation in which he moved.

What it contains

• Address to Archbishop John Whitgift
• Defence of Dee’s studies as lawful and Christian
• Catalogue of his printed and unprinted works
• Lament for the despoiled library at Mortlake
• The 1548 Cambridge testimonial
• Protestation of faith and loyalty, prayer and epilogue