# Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica

Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica (BPH) or The Ritman Library is a Dutch library founded by Joost Ritman located in the Huis met de Hoofden (House with the Heads) at Keizersgracht 123, in the center of Amsterdam. The Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica brings together manuscripts and printed works in the field of Hermeticism, more specifically what it likes to call the 'Christian-Hermetic tradition'.
The Embassy of the Free Mind is a museum, library, and intellectual platform inspired by the collection.

## The library

The Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica was founded in 1957 by Joost R. Ritman and opened to the public in 1984. The library is now supported by a foundation and is a public institution. The Bibliotheca co-operates with international libraries and organizations, such as the Russian Rudomino Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow, the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel, the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence, and the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice.
To date, the library holds more than 23,000 volumes on hermetica, Rosicrucianism, alchemy, mysticism, gnosis, esotericism and comparative religion, and has great scientific, artistic, and cultural value. Other areas of the collection are Sufism, Kabbalah, anthroposophy, theosophy, pansophy, Freemasonry, and the Grail. The entire Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica collection consists of around 28,000 books, including around 7,500 books printed before 1800, 70 incunables, 700 post-1550 manuscripts, and 25 manuscripts written before 1550. The remaining books are post 1800. Many items in the library are one of a kind. Among the treasures of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica are the Corpus Hermeticum published in 1471, the first illustrated edition of Dante's La Divina Commedia from 1481, and Cicero's De Officiis printed in 1465.

## Past

The founder of the library, Joost R. Ritman (1941), was an Amsterdam businessman with a deep interest in spirituality. He began collecting rare books at a young age, after his mother had presented him with a copy of a seventeenth-century edition of “The Aurora”, a work by Jacob Böhme, one of the authors who are a lasting source of inspiration to him. When he conceived the plan to turn his private collection of books into a library, his vision was to bring together under one roof manuscripts and printed works in the field of the Hermetic tradition, and to show the interrelatedness between the various collecting areas and their relevance for the present day. Following a difficult year in the shadow of the financial crisis and cuts, The Ritman Library reopened its doors on December 16, 2011.
In 2016, Ritman purchased and donated a national monument, the Huis met de Hoofden (House with the Heads) located at Keizersgracht 123 to house the BPH collection and make possible supporting programs – including exhibition spaces, a research institute, and seminar rooms. In 2016 a major digitization project was begun and by Spring of 2017 over 2000 of the rarest works were made available on-line.
Following a ceremonial grand opening of the museum by the Ritman family and author Dan Brown, the Embassy of the Free Mind opened its doors to the public in 2017.

## Present

The “House with the Heads” currently houses four major institutions that are linked to one another: a library, museum, research institute and academy. The library and research institute work together to develop content that flows into the exhibitions of the museum, the courses offered in the academy, and the publications of the research institute. The central institution is the library and the content for the other institutions grows out of the books and manuscripts held within it.
The building Huis met de Hoofden is currently undergoing a major renovation to create more space for its programs. In 2022 a new reading room was established on the second floor of the building. This room contains a selection of the most important secondary research literature for students, researchers and the public. There are further stacks of research literature in the basement of the building that can be accessed on request. The core collection of rare historic books, manuscripts, and incunables can also be viewed and studied on request for academic purpose.

## Future

The library is currently focusing on reshaping the once privately funded library into a self-sustaining and public institution. The originally private library therefore acquired the status of a Public Benefit Institution (ANBI). With the rehousing to the Keizersgracht 123 in 2017, a new era begins in which the library will be passed on to a new generation and made accessible to a broader audience.

## Digitizing the collection

In June 2016 it was announced that author Dan Brown, who did research in the library for some of his books, was donating €300,000. This money was to be used to digitize the library's core collection of 4,600 early printed books and 300 older manuscripts. These were to be available online in spring 2017. The Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds was donating €15,000.

## UNESCO Recognition

In November of 2022 the BPH collection housed at the Embassy of the Free Mind as well as the state owned portion located at the Allard Pierson Museum was granted special 'Memory of the World' status by UNESCO Nederlandse.