Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - Nancy Turner, University of Wisconsin-Platteville professor of history, and Teresa Burns, UWP associate professor of English, have produced translations of two works by John Dee, a noted mathematician, astronomer, astrologist and geographer of the 16th century.

Dee, also an English Renaissance writer, was considered the most learned person in England of his time. As a young man, he attended Cambridge University in Cambridge, England, as an under-reader of ancient Greek. Later, he taught geometry at the University of Paris. He was an advisor to Queen Elizabeth I and chose the date of her coronation. For the first half of his life, Dee was involved in many learned scientific and mathematical circles and also amassed the largest personal library in England. However, the second half of his life was devoted to uncovering the secrets of alchemy.

It was Burns' interest in studying the relation of the occult to William Shakespeare that led to the investigation of Dee's writings.

"For various reasons, I became convinced that the 'Consecrated Little Book of Black Venus' attributed to Dee was an important text, but there was no available translation in English," said Burns.

After waiting for a workable translation, Burns decided to translate the text herself. She enlisted Turner to help with the Latin translation because of Turner's interest in Dee's place in the history of science.

"It was the start of a very productive translating partnership," said Burns.

This partnership led to the translation of Dee's "Tuba Veneris." Turner and Burns titled it in English "The Consecrated Little Book of Black Venus." This text was written in the second half of Dee's life, and is believed to be an instruction manual for an occult ritual connected to Dee's cosmological system. This book was supposedly written in 1581, but there are controversies over the actual date of composition and if Dee was the true author. Prior to the translation by Burns and Turner, a translation of this text in English had not existed.

Burns and Turner are in the process of translating another of Dee's texts, "Monas Hieroglyphica." The title translates into English as the "Hieroglyphic Monad." This text was written earlier in Dee's life, in 1564, and is more scientific than the "Black Venus" work.

"The 'Hieroglyphic Monad' shows that Dee had a grasp of complex geometry and physics, including ideas associated with four-dimensional geometry, centuries before the traditional dates given by historians for the origin of these ideas," said Turner. "In his 'Hieroglyphic Monad' Dee presents some of the basic elements of what we today would consider to be the theory of gravity, more than 100 years before Isaac Newton came up with his path-breaking work on gravity."

They plan to have this text completely translated into English in March.

Burns received a sabbatical in 2004 to work on a book she is co-authoring about the connections between Dee and Shakespeare. This book explores the many connections of Dee's writings to a number of Shakespeare's plays. It also presents information about a mysterious name that appears in Dee's diary that suggests Shakespeare may have been a spy.

Burns will be presenting some of her theories on Dee at the Medieval Studies Congress that will take place on Thursday, May 7 and last until Sunday, May 10. This congress is a yearly event hosted by Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich. Turner will be moderating a session entitled Astronomy and Alchemy, which is sponsored by Societas Alchimica, a society of which Turner is currently the chair. Burns and Emily Hadorn, a UWP student majoring in English literature and professional writing, will be presenting papers at this session, along with two other presenters, one of whom is co-authoring the book by Burns. Their session begins at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 7.

For more information, contact Burns at (608) 342-1880 or burnst@uwplatt.edu, or Turner at (608) 342-1789 or turnern@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Nancy Turner, professor of history, (608) 342-1789, turnern@uwplatt.edu; Teresa Burns, associate professor of English, (608) 342-1880, burnst@uwplatt.edu

Written by: Morgan Spitzer, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, spitzerm@uwplatt.edu