A Reading Day

 

Today I was booked in to read from the Dee library at the Royal College of Physicians.  I did have opportunity to do this once before; I got one day in back in 2020 before all the libraries closed due to COVID and I had to head home far too early.  It was so good to be back and to be working with Katie again, who is the special collections librarian.  She not only helped me  by "fetching" the books I needed but also with her huge amount of knowledge in this area - and even with interacting with me about the writing I want to do.  I accessed again some of the books I had accessed before (the Alexander, the Cardano, and the Archimedes) but also others that my studies of Dee have led me to in the meantime (Copernicus/Rheticus, Frisius, Llull, Plotinus/Ficino, and Postel).  I'll post just a couple of imagines from my RCP reading to give an idea.

The above is from the Mathemalogium of Andreas Alexander (1503).  Dee was reading this when he was imprisoned by Queen Mary I ("Bloody" Mary).  The writing he did in the margins of this book is very neat, and I always imagine that is because he had time on his hands!  On this page he makes a correction to the printed text.  Here is a square with sides of length 4 (given in Roman Numerals as iiij) and a diagonal given as having length 32 (written xxxij), but rather than 32, it should be the square root of 32.  The symbol in front of xxxij is handwritten by Dee, an old form of the square root symbol.

The book above connects two of "my" mathematicians.  It was written by Cardano but owned by Dee, and used by Dee as a textbook of astrology (which was an expected area of learning for a scholar at that time - at least one working with math and astronomy - and often for physicians as well, since astrology tied into diagnoses).  Cardano and Dee eventually met (1552), but Dee most likely had this book prior to that and was using it to learn from during his time in the Low Countries.  You can see Dee's writing on the left-hand page (neater on some days than others).  I included this picture because it involves both Dee and Cardano, but my name is here too -- on the slip of paper sticking out of the top of the book.  Am I ever in august company!!

I walked from the RCP to the British Library - about a 20-minute walk.  Along the way I found this business area with some little restaurants, and I definitely needed a lunch break!  Tucked way in the back corner was a little Italian Café and also some rather fun seating.  I think this is "Regent's Place."

As I resumed my journey to the British Library, I saw what is in the following two pictures.  Can you tell what they are before scrolling further?

A quick peek, and then onward to the British Library.  I had spent more time at the RCP than planned because I found out the British Library was open until 8pm.  Yea!

Pencils only in the reading room.  Everything else goes in the locker.  (Cameras are OK for many items.)  I took a picture to make sure I'd remember which locker my stuff was in! 

I'd been particularly excited to access the Jacopo Silvestri book from Dee's library.  It is the second book on cryptography ever printed (1526) and was bought in Venice by Dee in 1563.  The shelf mark is 556.b.20. When I first opened the book I thought they'd given me the wrong thing.  It turns out there are two books bound together - despite having nothing to do with each other - the book I wanted was at the back.  The book at the front was a 1620 book on sign language, which was interesting too!

I also consulted a Cardano book here at the British Library - one that I had requested in 2020 and was booked in to see, but the library closed due to COVID before I got a chance to do so.

I love this book!  I ended up reading almost the entire thing.  I'm interested in it, of course, because it is written by Cardano, but it also has pretty "famous" connections.  It seems that Shakespeare must have been very familiar with it, as much of his "To Be Or Not To Be" soliloquy are almost word-for-word from this book.  I took so many pictures of it that I'm having a hard time finding exactly the ones I want to illustrate this, but notice the end of the second page here: "Seeing then men die with such ease, what can Death be better compared to than a Dream."  And in Hamlet's soliloquy we have, " 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wish'd.  To die, to sleep; to sleep, perchance to dream - "  I realize this is a pretty common sentiment, but there are many more connections here, closer connections.  Also, it is thought that just before that scene, when Polonius comes upon Hamlet in the library and asks Hamlet what he is reading, and Hamlet says, "Words, words, words" that the book Hamlet is holding in his hand is this book of Cardano.  Personally, I found the book quite compelling and helpful, as it says on the title page, "Of great use in these times," well, in great use in this time too, I think.

Precious treasures:

Fun fact - there's actually a little mystery here.  The date (bottom of spine) on the Silvestri book is 1616, but I know it to have been published in 1526.  Additionally, the inscription on the inside that is written in John Dee's hand indicates that he purchased it in 1563 in Venice.  Well, that is impossible if it was published in 1616 (which is 7 years after his death!).  When I was back at the RCP the next day, I mentioned it to Katie, and she thought about the dates and realized almost immediately that in Roman numerals there is only one symbol difference between 1526 and 1616, so an easier mistake in that system than in ours, using MDCXVI instead of the correct MDXXVI.  The only difference is an X vs. a C.

Library, Library, Museum

 

Because the "Secrett Inventiones" manuscript of Napier is something I'd been waiting years to see, and because I'm trying to get a real sense of him for the novel I'm writing, I asked the librarian to keep it reserved for me for an additional day.  First thing this morning I headed right back over to Lambeth Palace Library.  Until very recently I didn't know anything about the library itself - just that they had this manuscript that I wanted to see.  I've since learned that Lambeth Palace is the largest religious archive in Europe after the Vatican.  Yes, I realize I already posted some pictures of my reading yesterday, but accessing this Napier document has been huge for me, so I'm going to post a couple more before moving on.  Again, thanks to Lambeth Palace Library for permission to post (shelf mark MS 658 f. 58).

That's my hand - right there - by John Napier's signature from 1596!!  OK, ok, moving on.  Next stop was another library, so I hopped on the tube at Westminster Station.

I decided to hop off at Baker Street Station because I remembered that as being close to the British Library.  Whoops, memory can be deceptive.  It was a half-hour walk - OK, but I didn't want to lose that much library time, alas.

Here she is, the British Library!!

First on the agenda: renew my reader's card

Second on the agenda: get some lunch at the Terrace Restaurant

Back inside to look into bookings for Monday - am set up to access Jacopo Silvestri's Opus Novum that had belonged to John Dee, Girolamo Cardano's Three Books of Consolation Englished, and the Dee Genealogical Scroll from the Cotton Collection.  More about those Monday.

I love the forecourt of the British Library. Below is Newton by Eduardo Paolozzi, a smaller version of which can be found on the grounds of Modern 2 in Edinburgh.

And then on to the British Museum - about a 20-minute walk, which took me through Russell Square.

Russell Square

I can't get enough of the Great Court of the British Museum.

Though I often drift back to the same beloved displays over and over, I did seek out something that was new to me this time.  When I had visited previously I had not heard of the Lewis Chessmen.  How did I not know about these?!

These pieces have SO MUCH personality!  Fun fact: when the first Harry Potter movie was being filmed they wanted to use a replica of this chess set, which used to be sold in the gift shop here.  At that time these were no longer available, so curator Dr. Irving Finkel allowed them to use his set, the pieces of which he'd been given one at a time over many years during his childhood for special occasions.  I think I'll finish out the British Museum part of this post with pictures of my favorite things that I always visit but without too much more commentary.

John Dee's items used in angelic communications

Ramesses II (or "Ozymandias" if you're of a poetic disposition)

The first decent picture I've ever been able to take of the Rosetta Stone!

Elgin Marbles

Winged bull of Nineveh - with a game board carved into the base in ancient times!

The game board scratched into the base is a very popular game of ancient times whose rules were only recently deciphered.  The board below is from a tomb in Ur and dates back to about 2500 BC.

Here are the rules, the board, the pieces, and the "dice."

OK, one more thing - while I was in the British Library I took a picture of a musical score in the Treasure Room.  A piano teacher friend of mine is going to be in London next month, and I wanted to share with her the types of musical treasures that can be found here on display.  Once I got back to my hotel I looked into this piece further in order to tell her about it, and it turns out that it is called My Ladye Nevills Booke (consisting of 42 pieces for keyboard by William Byrd 1591) and that Lady Nevill is thought to be Elizabeth Bacon, who is a half sister to Sir Francis Bacon and Anthony Bacon, whose papers I was reading earlier today! I didn't even know they had a sister. Yet another new connection has been made for me, and that completely serendipitously!