These excerpts intertwine two distinct narratives, one following an unnamed contemporary narrator, Matthew Palmer, and the other detailing the life and pursuits of the historical figure Dr. John Dee. Matthew's story involves moving into a strange ancestral house in Clerkenwell, London, where he experiences unsettling dreams, visions, and encounters, prompting him to research the house's history and its previous inhabitant, the Elizabethan magus Dr. Dee, with the help of his friend, Daniel Moore. Dee's passages, presented as a first-person account, illustrate his theatrical spectacles, his philosophical and alchemical studies, his contentious relationship with his wife, Katherine, and his intense scrying sessions with his medium, Edward Kelley, in search of the buried, original city of London.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.