Sherman's book is superb. It is unusually learned, strikingly original, and always surprising. Not merely is this our most subtle and suggestive account of the writings of the protean John Dee, it is also a work that calls into question our most entrenched convictions about reading and writing in early modern England.

A model monograph, elegantly conceived, lucidly written, and astonishingly learned. Sherman has acquired a mastery of libraries and manuscripts, and an understanding of the ways of early modern writers, scribes, and publishers that would do credit to a grizzled veteran. More important still, he has the originality and wit to mobilize his erudition in the service of a clear, original, and important thesis.