The Hieroglyphic Monad represents a visionary Elizabethan mind seeking to conjure the embodiment of universal knowledge into a single symbol. Written in just two weeks, the text has confounded scholars and general readers alike but this new translation, over a year in production, seeks to provide clarity and context and, in doing so, better convey the sheer ambition of its author.

As the translator, Michael Zellman-Rohrer notes, “Dee … heralds fundamental new insights … in the fields of grammar, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, optics, metrology, mechanics (particularly hydraulics), medicine, cabala, divination by scrying, and alchemy.”

Including an introduction by the the translator and specially commissioned essay by Emma Doeve that looks at the very nature of Dee’s work and examines the sources of his inspiration (including Kabbalah, astrology and alchemy), this brand new edition of the Hieroglyphic Monad will provide greater insight than ever before into one of John Dee’s most famous texts.