Edward Kelley...?

[Nick Pelling <incoming@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone,

Given my surprise at possibly identifying Edward Kelley as the VMS' 
foliator, I've been reading up on him.

His links with Rudolph seem many times stronger than John Dee's - Kelley 
was made an "eques auratus" (baron of the kingdom of Bohemia) by Rudolph, 
and worked in Praha as an alchemist for some time.

So: why is it certain that the VMS isn't Kelley's "The Book of St Dunstan" 
(or a copy of it)?

The story goes that Kelley bought the book (and some alchemical white 
powder and red powder, which he spent the rest of his life researching / 
living off) for next to nothing from an innkeeper while travelling to 
Wales: and that the items had been looted from the tomb of a Catholic 
bishop, supposedly in the grounds of the former Glastonbury Abbey (it 
wasn't so long after Henry VIII).

According to what I've seen on the Net, the book was in Kelley's possession 
before he met John Dee (1581), it contained strange images, and Kelley 
couldn't understand a word of it, despite trying to decipher it all his 
life. So: it would seem to be a reasonable match for the VMS - or have I 
missed something?

Also: does anyone know what happened to Kelley's possessions when he died?

Perhaps the 1988 Christopher Whitby book "John Dee's Actions With 
Spirits..." (referred to in Jim Reeds' VMS bibliography) has something to 
say on this? (I haven't yet seen a copy)

Thanks, .....Nick Pelling.....