It is hard to overestimate the importance of the contribution made by Dame Frances Yates to the serious study of esotericism and the occult sciences. To her work can be attributed the contemporary understanding of the occult origins of much of Western scientific thinking, indeed of Western civilization itself. The Occult Philosophy of the Elizabethan Age was her last book, and in it she condensed many aspects of her wide learning to present a clear, penetrating, and, above all, accessible survey of the occult movements of the Renaissance, highlighting the work of John Dee, Giordano Bruno, and other key esoteric figures. The book is invaluable in illuminating the relationship between occultism and Renaissance thought, which in turn had a profound impact on the rise of science in the seventeenth century. Stunningly written and highly engaging, Yates' masterpiece is a must-read for anyone interested in the occult tradition.

It is hard to overestimate the importance of the contribution made by Dame Frances Yates to the serious study of esotericism and the occult sciences. To her work can be attributed the contemporary understanding of the occult origins of much of Western scientific thinking, indeed of Western civilization itself. The Occult Philosophy of the Elizabethan Age was her last book, and in it she condensed many aspects of her wide learning to present a clear, penetrating, and, above all, accessible survey of the occult movements of the Renaissance, highlighting the work of John Dee, Giordano Bruno, and other key esoteric figures. The book is invaluable in illuminating the relationship between occultism and Renaissance thought, which in turn had a profound impact on the rise of science in the seventeenth century. Stunningly written and highly engaging, Yates' masterpiece is a must-read for anyone interested in the occult tradition.

Describes the beliefs and images connected with the Christian Cabala and general occult philosophy during Queen Elizabeth I's reign, and discusses their influence on Elizabethan painting and poetry

First published in 1999. This is volume VII of ten of the collected works of Frances Yates. This book is a strictly historical study, not an enquiry into ‘the occult’ in general, which I am certainly not qualified to undertake. It includes what was known as ‘the occult philosophy’ in the Renaissance. This philosophy, or outlook, was compounded of Hermeticism as revived by Marsilio Ficino, to which Pico della Mirandola added a Christianised version of Jewish Cabala. These two trends, associated together, form what Yates calls ‘the occult philosophy’.

First published in 1987. John Dee was Renaissance England's first Hermetic magus, a philosopher magician. He was also a respected practical scientist, an immensely learned man who investigated all areas of knowledge. In this fine biography, Peter French shows that not only magic and science, but geography, antiquarianism, theology and the fine arts were fields in which Dee was deeply involved. Through his teaching, writing and friendships with many of the most important figures of the age, Dee was at the centre of great affairs and had a profound influence on major developments in sixteenth-century England. Peter French places this extraordinary individual within his proper historical context, describing the whole world of Renaissance science, Platonism and Hermetic magic.