Feature

Uncovering the lost library of John Dee Katie Birkwood describes the challenges of curating an exhibition of annotated 16th-century books at the Royal College of Physicians, London, uncovering the life and work of Tudor scholar, courtier and magician John Dee.

Katie Birkwood ([email protected]) is Rare Books and Special Collections Librarian, Royal College of Physicians, London.

JOHN Dee (1527–1609) was one of Tudor England’s most intriguing and enigmatic figures. A difficult man to describe succinctly, he was expert in mathematics, astrology, alchemy, ancient history, cryptography, classical literature, mystical theology and angel magic. Dee advised Elizabeth I on several subjects, and amassed probably the largest library of his era, numbering 3,000 printed books and 1,000 manuscripts. The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) library contains the largest known surviving collection of books from Dee’s library: 117 books with certain or probable provenance and 43 with a possible connection. We had never previously displayed Dee’s books publicly, and though they are widely cited in the scholarly literature – particularly for Dee’s detailed annotations within them – few people outside specialist circles knew about them. The primary aim of the exhibition ‘Scholar, courtier, magician: the lost library of John Dee’ was to publicise this remarkable collection. We have been delighted and astonished by the huge success of the exhibition. As far as I’m aware, there has never been an exhibition

dedicated to Dee. Our exhibition has generated numerous articles in the local and national press, fantastic feedback from our stakeholders and visitors, a large increase in our visitors and, perhaps most importantly, has provided a focus for the wide national and international interest in Dee’s life and times.

Practicalities and planning

I first suggested the exhibition in 2013, and after approval by the management committee it was scheduled for 2016. Though I had previously worked on exhibitions and displays, I’d never worked on anything of this scale before. Together, our team of museum professionals and I created the exhibition, ­researching Dee’s life, managing the administration and logistical planning, drafting text, administering loans from outside institutions, commissioning films to accompany the exhibition, and managing the project overall. Throughout the course of the project I also worked on other library projects. Until 2014, Dee’s books were inadequately described in our catalogue. That year I hosted a two-week placement for two students

Scholar l courtier l magician ‘Scholar, courtier, magician: the lost library of John Dee’ runs until 29 July 2016.

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Opening hours, events and more information online: http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/johndee Katie Birkwood examining a text from the John Dee collection. Photo: John Chase, © RCP

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from the Library and Information Studies MA course at University College London. They examined all of the books, making notes on their condition and contents and transcribed provenance information from printed sources into our library management system.1 I based my research on these notes and used them to make early decisions about key exhibits to be conserved offsite by a ­specialist conservator and to be photographed for publicity.

Negotiating loans

In early 2014, we also identified possible loans from national institutions including the Science Museum, the Wellcome Library, the British Museum and the Ashmolean ­Museum. We sent formal requests to potential lenders by the end of the year. I wanted the majority of exhibits to be RCP books, but we sought some non-book loans to provide wider context. We secured the loan of paintings depicting Dee and of purportedly ­magical objects associated with Dee, including two crystal balls he is said to have used to attempt to communicate with angelic spirits. Negotiating and agreeing loans from museums can be slow, and the display conditions at the RCP add a layer of complexity. The RCP’s 1964 Grade I listed building was not designed as a museum, so the museum team have to be ingenious to create spaces that meet the right environmental standards for displays of our own collections and borrowed objects. The Dee exhibition benefited from over five years of previous experimentation to get around these restrictions and included the commissioning of bespoke lift-able covers for cases to allow us to display Dee’s books in our very brightly lit central atrium.

John Dee performing an experiment before Queen Elizabeth I. Oil painting by Henry Gillard Glindoni, late 19th century. Courtesy of Wellcome Library, London.

Research

In early 2015 I examined each book on my exhibits long list, recording key features with notes and photographs. It was difficult to decide how to describe Dee and to choose which elements of his life to include or exclude. Dee has been characterised as a forerunner of modern science, a gullible fool, a devious trickster, an evil black magician, a powerful mystic and more besides. I ultimately resolved not to pick a side in the debate about Dee, but to let the books themselves inform us about his life, thoughts and personality. I used the themes that emerged from the books and their annotations to group exhibits in the display cases. Some important topics, including medicine, aren’t represented in the books, and are explored on wall panels instead. Once a near-definitive object list had evolved, we checked that the exhibits would fit in the available space. On probably my favourite day of the exhibition development, we mocked up display cases using masking-tape templates on the floor of the reading room, seeing the exhibition come to life in front of our eyes. In spring 2015, I wrote a research report detailing my thoughts about the themes and exhibits. The exhibitions coordinator 32

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Visitors enjoying the exhibition. Photo © Rupa Photography

used this to write the first draft of all the exhibition text (everything from promotional leaflets to exhibit captions). We redrafted this as a team over the following months, finalising most of it by early autumn. We made at least two discoveries during the exhibition development. I found one book with an inscription in a Dee-like hand that hadn’t previously been identified as his. More dramatically, we arranged for a loaned painting of Dee performing before Elizabeth I to be X-rayed, revealing an earlier version of the painting in which Dee was standing inside a circle of skulls. This discovery became a key feature of the exhibition publicity.2

Display

Displaying and interpreting the written and printed word is always a challenge.3 Most

of Dee’s books are printed and annotated in Latin, so the exhibition design and text has to work particularly hard to interpret them. Inspired by other recent rare books exhibitions (‘Private lives of print’ at Cambridge University Library and ‘Ingenious impressions’ at the University of Glasgow), I commissioned multi-opening mounts for key exhibits and worked with a photographer to capture the books looking glamorous and dramatic. We invite exhibition visitors to visit the library reading room to learn more about Dee from a selection of biographies and books on Dee’s era, and from a Pinterest Board (http://bit.ly/21Wadun) of online resources. In late summer and early autumn 2015, we developed and refined the graphic design with the in-house RCP design team. May 2016

the exhibition webpage in autumn 2014, one single tweet about it generated a large response. We harnessed this interest by using hashtags such as #MarginaliaMonday and #WoodcutWednesday and special days such as the @CultureThemes museum gifs day (#musgif) in October 2015. I first made three gifs (animated images) to uncover the materiality of the books: showing moving parts or multiple pages. These proved such a hit that our publicist asked me to make three more. All six have gone down extremely well.4 The RCP doesn’t have a dedicated shop, so we chose a small range of exhibition merchandise that we could sell at events, from the RCP main reception desk, and online. Some fun ideas – such as replicas of the crystal balls Dee used to communicate with angels – don’t necessarily fit well with the RCP brand and image, so we limited ourselves to straightforward postcards, notebooks, and fridge magnets.

Events The exhibition has been an unparalleled success for the RCP museum. Photo © Rupa Photography

Institutionum oratoriarum. Quintilian, published Lyon, 1540. Photography Mike Fear, © Royal College of Physicians

It’s difficult to know how much, and what kind, of text is needed until the design begins to form, so finalising the text is an iterative process. We installed the exhibition at the very start of 2016. Liaising between our internal facilities teams and external suppliers, contractors and art handlers, we carefully planned each step in the sequence to ensure everything happened in the required order and on time.

Promotion

The RCP’s award-winning press team does not routinely work on arts or cultural promotion, so the museum has worked with a freelance arts publicist for the last four years to promote our exhibitions and events, enabling us to reach a far wider range and number of outlets than we could May 2016

have managed ourselves. This long-term relationship was critical. The publicist was briefed about the exhibition well over a year in advance, knows the RCP offer very well and participated in project planning meetings, bringing a vital additional perspective to the project team. He wrote our press releases, and generated and managed all of the time-consuming administration of media interviews and visits, especially during the preview week before public opening. We encouraged journalists to visit and met them in person to explain why Dee is a notable figure and why the RCP, of all places, is having an exhibition about him. Social media was exceptionally useful in publicity and gave us valuable early indicators of the high level of interest Dee was likely to generate. After we launched

We have organised several events, an ­extension of the existing RCP museum events programme. Usual RCP opening hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm and there is clear demand for weekend and evening access to the exhibition. We also wanted to offer more perspectives on Dee’s life, while balancing this against the available staff time, the costs of hosting events, and the availability of the RCP building. We scheduled 10 weekend exhibition tours, which sold out almost before the exhibition opened, and evening opening once a month. In March, we held a performance of a one-woman theatrical piece exploring Dee’s life through the eyes of his daughter. We commissioned a revised version of a performance that had been performed in Manchester in 2014 and 2015. Organising a theatrical performance is always a challenge, requiring creativity and flexibility in lighting, seating and promotion. The event attracted a record audience for an RCP museum event, and visitors appreciated the extra opportunities we offered, including meeting the curators and handling one of

The Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians, London (RCP) is the professional membership body for physicians, with over 30,000 members and fellows across the globe. Though not primarily an information or heritage organisation, it has kept library, archive and museum collections since its foundation in 1518. Today the collections include: institutional and personal archives; a library of 50,000 titles; and – within an accredited museum – a nationally-significant portrait collection, silver, medical instruments, and other objects. The library, archive and museum services department curates a changing programme of public exhibitions. l www.rcplondon.ac.uk CILIPUPDATE

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the annotated volumes. In May and July we’re holding evenings of short expert lectures.

A rewarding experience

The exhibition opened on 18 January 2016 and has been an unparalleled success for the RCP museum. Forty three of Dee’s annotated books appear alongside other RCP rare books and the loan paintings and objects. It’s extremely rewarding to have overcome challenges including the complexities of Dee’s life and reputation, a poorly-described and abstruse collection, a difficult non-dedicated display space and the other demands on all of the team to see John Dee’s books having their moment in the limelight. Things I’ve learnt and tips for others: Do make arbitrary decisions: with so many potential exhibits in the frame, and such a complicated life story in play, it is vital not to dither – make decisions quickly and then change them later if needed.

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Trust your exhibits – let them tell the story.

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can’t be too organised. Keep as many notes as you can, and take as many photographs as you can.

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Be flexible: keep reserve plans in mind.

Have fun: it’s rare to be able to dedicate so much time to a single collection.

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Keep it simple: consider why every exhib-

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Opera. Cicero, published Paris, 1539–1540. Photography John Chase, © Royal College of Physicians

Opera. Arnaldus de Villanova, published Venice, 1527. Photography Mike Fear, © Royal College of Physicians

it and every piece of exhibition text is there and what the visitor most wants or needs to know.

the library of the Royal College of Physicians, London: a listing and guide to the microfilm collection (London: Adam Matthew Publications, 2004).

Know your message: have a clear idea what you want other people to know about the exhibition. n U

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References 1 Julian Roberts and Andrew G. Watson (eds), John Dee’s library catalogue (London: Bibliographical Society, 1990); Julian Roberts and Andrew G. Watson (eds), Renaissance man… Series one: the books and manuscripts of John Dee, 1527-1608 parts 4-6: John Dee’s manuscripts and annotated books from

2 Mark Brown, ‘John Dee painting originally had circle of human skulls, x-ray imaging reveals’, Guardian (18 January 2016), 12. http://www.theguardian. com/artanddesign/2016/jan/17/john-dee-painting-circle-of-humanskulls-exhibition 3 National Library of Scotland, Exhibiting the written word (Edinburgh: National Library of Scotland, 2011). http://www.nls.uk/about-us/working-with-others/rare-booksin-scotland/documents/exhibiting-the-written-word 4 I have blogged about how I made the gifts: http://maedchenimmond.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/john-dee-howi-made-exhibition-gifs.html

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