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John Dee’s crystal
John Dee (1527–1609) is a man who continues to fascinate us today. As discussed in a previous post, Dee was involved in a large and varied number of activities. He advised Queen Elizabeth I on astrological and scientific matters, published… Continue reading
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Spotlight: a medieval tree of knowledge
Like modern-day students, medieval people used diagrams and images to reinforce learning and memorisation. In long and complex philosophical manuscripts, occasionally an image was used to break the monotony of reading. The tree diagram considered here was part of a… Continue reading
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Descartes and doubt
Ed Thornton draws on the Library’s original publications by René Descartes (1596–1650) to discover what the French polymath’s adage “I think therefore I am” can tell us about what it means to be a thinking thing in a physical world.… Continue reading
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An austere realm of great beauty
Being an archivist is sometimes a strange profession, spanning a range of worlds. Your training can include instruction in Tudor handwriting or medieval Latin, but will also cover nuts and bolts information about reading room layouts, order slips and avoiding… Continue reading