A comprehensive look at the life and work of one of the towering figures of Renaissance mysticism.

Delving into the life and work of John Dee, Renaissance mathematician and "conjurer to Queen Elizabeth," György E. Szőnyi presents an analysis of Renaissance occultism and its place in the chronology of European cultural history. Culling examples of "magical thinking" from classical, medieval, and Renaissance philosophers, Szönyi revisits the body of Dee's own scientific and spiritual writings as reflective sources of traditional mysticism. Exploring the intellectual foundations of magic, Szőnyi focuses on the ideology of exaltatio, the glorification or deification of man. He argues that it was the desire for exaltatio that framed and tied together the otherwise varied thoughts and activities of John Dee as well.