Once the largest library in the ancient world, and containing works by the greatest thinkers and writers of antiquity, includingHomer, Plato, Socrates and many more, the Library of Alexandria,  northern Egypt, is popularly believed to have been destroyed in a huge fire around 2000 years ago and its volumous works lost. Since its destruction this wonder of the ancient world has haunted the imagination of poets, historians, travellers and scholars, who have lamented the tragic loss of knowledge and literature. Today, the idea of a ‘Universal Library’ situated in acity celebrated as the centre of learning in the ancient world, has attained mythical status. The mystery has been perpetuated by the fact that no architectural remains or archaeological finds that can definitely be attributed to the ancient Library have ever been recovered, surprising for such a supposedly renowned and imposing structure. This lack of physical proof has even persuaded some to wonder if the fabulous Library actually …

Born on July 13, 1527, in London, England, John Dee was an “English alchemist, astrologer, and mathematician who contributed greatly to the revival of interest in mathematics in England.” – Encyclopaedia Britannica “Dee was an exceptional student who entered Cambridge University when he was fifteen…Dee excelled at Cambridge and was named Underreader (junior faculty member) before taking his degree. After graduating he traveled to the Continent to continue his studies, achieving overnight fame in Paris at the age of twenty-three, when he delivered a series of lectures on the recently exhumed works of the Greek mathematician Euclid.” – Visions and Prophesies “After lecturing and studying on the European continent between 1547 and 1550, Dee returned to England in 1551 and was granted a pension by the government. Dee became astrologer to the queen, Mary Tudor, and shortly thereafter was imprisoned for being a magician but was released in 1555.” – …