Rachel Morris and Violet Moller discussing Science and Magick

Authors Rachel Morris and Violet Moller will be in discussion followed by an audience Q&A and book signing.

The Years of the Wizard

All things were believable back then - wizards, alchemy, fairies, angels. This is the story of those magical times.

A lyrical and highly atmospheric exploration of the lives of Tudor and Renaissance magicians, men from Dee to Kepler to Bruno, who were also scientists, astrologers, mathematicians and alchemists. Their studies, books and ideas still permeate scientific history, as well as literature and film from Philip Pullman to CS Lewis. But what do we know of the rest of their households - the lovers, wives, mothers and daughters? In The Years of the Wizard Rachel Morris also vividly reimagines the less documented lives of the magicians' families and lovers. From those who supported the travelling households - packing up the libraries, feeding the assistants, entertaining the patrons, educating the children - as well as those archiving, documenting and collaborating with their magical work.

With vivid storytelling Rachel Morris magically animates both the known past lives of these extraordinary men and the imaginary stories of the less documented women, elders and children in this era of discovery and magic.

Inside the Stargazer's Palace

In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus declared the earth revolved around the Sun, overturning centuries of scholastic presumption. A new age was coming into view - one guided by observation, technology and logic.

But omens and elixirs did not disappear from the sixteenth-century laboratory. Charms and potions could still be found nestled between glistening brass instruments and leather-bound tomes. The line between the natural and supernatural remained porous, yet to be defined.

From the icy Danish observatory of Tycho Brahe, to the smoky, sulphur-stained workshop of John Dee, Violet Moller tours the intellectual heart of early European science. Exploring its rich, multidisciplinary culture, Inside the Stargazer's Palace reveals a dazzling forgotten world, where all knowledge, no matter how arcane, could be pursued in good faith.

Host or Publisher Blackwell's, Broad Street Oxford