How does the history of alchemy benefit from a material culture approach to textual sources? The history of alchemy and the history of the book are uniquely interconnected. Practices of textual production, use, and reuse of alchemical texts show a specific alchemical culture of knowledge-creation and reading practices. This method of historical analysis will be applied to the courtly life of Arthur Dee, Physician to the Tsar. Bibliographical sources are a vital part of the narrative of Arthur Dee’s patronage networks and career as Physician to the Tsar. The material evidence from the extant textual sources surrounding Dee’s life provide the most complete narrative of his courtly alchemy and alchemical knowledge-production during his time in Moscow.