The Bibliophile exhibition 2024

Dear book lovers,

When the Bibliophiles visited the Netherlands in September 1997, and we met in the ‘Scheepvaartmuseum’ in this context, I was asked what the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica (BPH) means to me personally and how I see the place that this library, which was founded in 1957, occupies in society and in Amsterdam in particular. Spontaneously, I gave the following answer: Amsterdam has a heart in which the whole world can fit. That image underpins the World Heart Foundation I founded in 2016, in which I have since placed the library to secure it for the future. Amsterdam’s connection to the printed book for centuries is obvious to any book lover: in the 17th century, The Dutch Republic grew into ‘The bookshop of the world’, to cite Andrew Pettegree, with Amsterdam as its main centre. The number of printing houses in this city had increased from 4 to 125 in a few decades, and a large concentration of them was around us on the canals and streets of the Jordaan area. Amsterdam realized Europe’s need to form a new trading centre after the fall of Antwerp. And among the mass products traded there, books and maps made here were an important part. My introduction to the world of ancient books began when my mother gave me, in 1964, for my 23rd birthday, the 1686 edition of Jacob Böhme’s main work as a present: the Aurora, translated into Dutch, and still a source of inspiration for me. It was then that my search began for texts that interested me, to find them in their most original manifestation. This then led to an acquaintance with all of the Amsterdam and Dutch antiquarian booksellers and later with the European and major American dealers. It also became the motto of the research institute attached to the BPH: ad fontes, ‘back to the sources’. For me, not only collecting is important, but also researching the authors’ thought processes in order to then be able to share that knowledge in the ‘Embassy of the Free Mind’, the place where you are now. The focus of the library is on Christian Hermetic gnosis as it emerges in various European spiritual movements. Gnosis, or ‘Knowledge of the Heart’, which originated in Alexandria 2,000 years ago, has been defined by eminent connoisseur Gilles Quispel as the third cultural component in our Western world, alongside the Reason of Athens and the Religion of Rome. The movements in which this body of thought took shape and can be identified as the BPH’s main collecting areas are Hermetica, Alchemy, Mysticism (with a special focus on Jacob Böhme) and the Rosicrucians. There are currently around 8,000 pre-1800 works (manuscripts, incunabula and old printed books) and 24,000 modern works. Attention is also paid to cultural traditions from outside Europe, such as Sufism, Zen, Taoism and Buddhism, looking above all for the universal that unites us. While the content of all our books is the expression of universal values and insights, many of the writers have suffered censorship and persecution, or worse: paid with their lives for the expression of their thoughts, which were contrary to mainstream religious teachings and/or the established order. But the fact is that their works have given shape and substance to European philosophical and scientific progress. For this reason, the BPH has been included in the UNESCO Dutch Memory of the World Register in 2022, in recognition of the contribution our authors have made to modern understandings of human dignity and rights. Since October 2017, the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica can welcome its visitors to the monumental ‘House with the Heads’ on Keizersgracht, dating from 1622 and built under the architecture of Hendrick de Keyser. This house bears the effigies of Mercury and Minerva on its facade, referring to the mercantile spirit and wisdom that merged in this house. Moving the BPH to this listed building was not only part of my ideal of securing the library for the future: it was also a kind of ‘homecoming’. The rich merchant Louis de Geer, who owned the house in the 17th century, and his son Laurens were great patrons who supported many ‘free spirits’ even then. Apart from financial support, the philosopher Comenius was even given shelter there as an exile for a while in 1656. Thus, the House with the Heads has from the start been a meeting place for art lovers, philosophers and freethinkers: a kind of ‘Embassy of the Free Mind’. The De Geer family also owned a library, still partially preserved and currently in Norrköping, Sweden, which had many titles identical to those in the BPH’s collection. As a supporter of free thought, and an admirer of the book as a designed text, I could not have wished for a more fitting home. It is therefore a particular pleasure for me that we can now show you in this House with the Heads some treasures from the heritage collection that is the BPH. Finally, the BPH has been assigned the status as a charitable foundation (501(c)(3) in 2016, when yours truly donated the collection to The World Heart Foundation. It was my lasting gift to the city of Amsterdam. An average of 10,000 visitors a year come to share in it. I would like to impart the wisdom of a Dutch proverb: ‘Good example follows well’.

Joost Ritman