DEE

dee, john (1527-1608), english mathematician and astrologer, was born on the 13th of july 1527, in london, where his father was, according to wood, a wealthy vintner. in 1542 he was sent to st john's college, cambridge. after five years spent in mathematical and astronomical studies, he went to holland, in order to visit several eminent continental mathematicians. having remained abroad nearly a year, he returned to cambridge, and was elected a fellow of trinity college, then first erected by king henry viii. in 1548 he took the degree of master of arts; but in the same year he found it necessary to leave england on account of the suspicions entertained of his being a conjurer; these were first excited by a piece of machinery, which, in the _pax_ of aristophanes, he exhibited to the university, representing the scarabaeus flying up to jupiter, with a man and a basket of victuals on its back. he went first to the university of louvain, where he resided about two years, and then to the college of rheims, where he had extraordinary success in his public lectures on euclid's _elements_. on his return to england in 1551 king edward assigned him a pension of 100 crowns, which he afterwards exchanged for the rectory of upton-upon-severn, worcestershire. soon after the accession of mary he was accused of using enchantments against the queen's life; but after a tedious confinement he obtained his liberty in 1555, by an order of council. when elizabeth ascended the throne, dee was asked by lord dudley to name a propitious day for the coronation. on this occasion he was introduced to the queen, who took lessons in the mystical interpretation of his writings, and made him great promises, which, however, were never fulfilled. in 1564 he again visited the continent, in order to present his _monas hieroglyphica_ to the emperor maximilian, to whom he had dedicated it. he returned to england in the same year; but in 1571 he was in lorraine, whither two physicians were sent by the queen to his relief in a dangerous illness. returning to his home at mortlake, in surrey, he continued his studies, and made a collection of curious books and manuscripts, and a variety of instruments. in 1578 dee was sent abroad to consult with german physicians and astrologers in regard to the illness of the queen. on his return to england, he was employed in investigating the title of the crown to the countries recently discovered by british subjects, and in furnishing geographical descriptions. two large rolls containing the desired information, which he presented to the queen, are still preserved in the cottonian library. a learned treatise on the reformation of the calendar, written by him about the same time, is also preserved in the ashmolean library at oxford. from this period the philosophical researches of dee were concerned entirely with necromancy. in 1581 he became acquainted with edward kelly, an apothecary, who had been convicted of forgery and had lost both ears in the pillory at lancaster. he professed to have discovered the philosopher's stone, and by his assistance dee performed various incantations, and maintained a frequent imaginary intercourse with spirits. shortly afterwards kelly and dee were introduced by the earl of leicester to a polish nobleman, albert laski, palatine of siradz, devoted to the same pursuits, who persuaded them to accompany him to his native country. they embarked for holland in september 1583, and arrived at laski's residence in february following. upon dee's departure the mob, believing him a wizard, broke into his house, and destroyed a quantity of furniture and books and his chemical apparatus. dee and kelly lived for some years in poland and bohemia in alternate wealth and poverty, according to the credulity or scepticism of those before whom they exhibited. they professed to raise spirits by incantation; and kelly dictated the utterances to dee, who wrote them down and interpreted them. dee at length quarrelled with his companion, and returned to england in 1589. he was helped over his financial difficulties by the queen and his friends. in may of 1595 he became warden of manchester college. in november 1604 he returned to mortlake, where he died in december 1608, at the age of eighty-one, in the greatest poverty. aubrey describes him as "of a very fair, clear sanguine complexion, with a long beard as white as milk--a very handsome man--tall and slender. he wore a goune like an artist's goune with hanging sleeves." dee's _speculum_ or mirror, a piece of solid pink-tinted glass about the size of an orange, is preserved in the british museum. his principal works are--_propaedeumata aphoristica_ (london, 1558); _monas hieroglyphica_ (antwerp, 1564); _epistola ad fredericum commandinum_ (pesaro, 1570); _preface mathematical to the english euclid_ (1570); _divers annotations and inventions added after the tenth book of english euclid_ (1570); _epistola praefixa ephemeridibus joannis feldi, a. 1557; parallaticae commentationis praxeosque nucleus quidam_ (london, 1573). the catalogue of his printed and published works is to be found in his _compendious rehearsal_, as well as in his letter to archbishop whitgift. a manuscript of dee's, relating what passed for many years between him and some spirits, was edited by meric casaubon and published in 1659. _the private diary of dr john dee, and the catalogue of his library of manuscripts_, edited by j. o. halliwell, was published by the camden society in 1842. there is a life of dee in thomas smith's _vitae illustrium virorum_ (1707); english translation by w. a. ayton, the _life of john dee_ (1909). dee (welsh, _dyfrdwy_; lat., and in milton, _deva_), a river of wales and england. it rises in bala lake, merionethshire, which is fed by a number of small streams. leaving the lake near the town of bala it follows a north-easterly course to corwen, turns thence e. by s. past llangollen to a point near overton, and then bends nearly north to chester, and thereafter north-west through a great estuary opening into the irish sea. in the llangollen district the dee crosses denbighshire, and thereafter forms the boundary of that county with shropshire, a detached part of flint, and cheshire. from bala nearly down to overton, a distance of 35 m., during which the river falls about 330 ft., its course lies through a narrow and beautiful valley, enclosed on the south by the steep lower slopes of the berwyn mountains and on the north by a succession of lesser ranges. the portion known as the vale of llangollen is especially famous. here an aqueduct carrying the pontcysyllte branch of the shropshire union canal bestrides the valley; it is a remarkable engineering work completed by thomas telford in 1805. the dee has a total length of about 70 m. and a fall of 530 ft. below overton it debouches upon its plain track. below chester it follows a straight artificial channel to the estuary, and this is the only navigable portion. the estuary, which is 14 m. long, and 5(1/4) m. wide at its mouth, between hilbre point on the english and point of air on the welsh side, is not a commercial highway like the neighbouring mouth of the mersey, for though in appearance a fine natural harbour at high tide, it becomes at low tide a vast expanse of sand, through which the river meanders in a narrow channel. the navigation, however, is capable of improvement, and schemes have been set on foot to this end. the tide rushes in with great speed over the sands, and their danger is illustrated in the well-known ballad "the sands of dee" by charles kingsley. the dee drains an area of 813 sq. m.