Enter the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica
Start exploring the books and manuscripts that contributed to our UNESCO Dutch Memory of the World status in our online catalogue.
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Library Collection
At the heart of the Embassy of the Free Mind lies the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica (BPH) collection: over 28,000 volumes, including 5,000 manuscripts dating from the 15th to the 19th century, devoted to the traditions that have shaped the wisdom currents of the West. Alchemy, Kabbalah, Mysticism, Rosicrucianism, Astrology, Hermetic philosophy, and more. The library takes its name from Hermes Trismegistus, the legendary Egyptian sage whose teachings reveal a thread running through all these traditions: that everything is connected, and that something divine lives at the core of every human being.
Many of the authors preserved here paid a heavy price for their ideas. Banned, persecuted, or silenced by church and state, they nevertheless influenced European philosophy, science, and our understanding of what it means to be human. In 2022, the collection was inscribed in the UNESCO Dutch Memory of the World Register.
What makes the collection truly special is that both the sources and the scholarly literature on them reside under one roof, offering the opportunity to study them simultaneously.
A Treasury of Christian-Hermetic Heritage
The BPH Collection is a specialised research library housing roughly 28,500 works on hermetic, esoteric, and mystical traditions, including rare pre-1900 printed books, incunables, and manuscripts of significant scientific, artistic, and cultural value.
28,000 +
Books in the Collection
2,260
Translated Books
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Our History
1975
The Begining of the Collection
Joost R. Ritman begins collecting rare works on Hermeticism, mysticism, and free thought.
This marks the foundation of what would become the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica.
1984
Opening to the Public
The Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica Collection opens to the public.
Scholars, students, and visitors gain access to a unique world of wisdom traditions.
2017
Embassy of the Free Mind
The BPH Collection finds its permanent home in the historical monument, the House with the Heads.
The Embassy of the Free Mind is established as a public cultural institution.
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2022
UNESCO Recognition
The BPH Collection is inscribed in UNESCO’s Dutch Memory of the World Register.
Its global cultural and historical significance is formally acknowledged.
Today
A Living Ecosystem
Collection, Research, Academy, Museum, Monument, Garden, and Ancient Wisdom Library come together to form the Embassy of the Free Mind.
Ancient wisdom is activated for contemporary society.
The Future
Looking Ahead
From preservation to participation.
From collection to co-creation with partners and sponsors.
From the Collection
"For the divine wisdom is revealed in all things. Whoever seeks it with a sincere heart will find that heaven and earth are full of the divine mystery"
Biblioteca Philisophica HErmetica
Three Principles of the Divine Essence
Cornelius Drebbel, 1628, Latin
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Become part of a living community dedicated to free inquiry and the extraordinary legacy of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica.
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