Scholarly concern about the threatening dissolution of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica

2010-11-27T06:38:00.000-08:00

The renowed Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica (BPH) is in grave danger due to a financial conflict with its owner, the businessman J.R. Ritman, and the Friesland Bank. A petition circulated in the academic circuit was signed by over 2500 people within a few days, and the number of signatures keeps growing by the hour: see www.ipetitions.com/petition/ritmanlibrary

If the Ritman library would go down, this would mean an enormous blow to international scholarship. The damage would be irreversible, for there is no comparable collection worldwide. Many researchers from all over the world visit Amsterdam each year specifically to profit from the unique facilities offered by the library and its professional staff. Since the University of Amsterdam offers a unique curriculum in Hermetic Studies at the Bachelor and Master levels, for the many Dutch and international students in this program the BPH is an indispensable resource.

A selection from among the many scholars who signed the petition and expressed their deep concern is listed below. While we understand that the business conflict must be resolved in a satisfactory manner, we hereby make a strong appeal to the Friesland Bank and the Dutch government to recognize their responsibility to international academic research and do their utmost to preserve this unique and irreplaceable library.

This urgent appeal to the Friesland Bank and the Dutch government is an initiative of the Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam.

A selection from the signatories in support of preserving the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica

Dr. U.I. Aasdalen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Dr. S. Aberth, Bard College, New York, USA

Dr. M. Azzolini, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Dr. K. Baier, University of Vienna, Austria

Prof. E. Barker, London School of Economics, United Kingdom

Prof. dr. J.A.A.M. Biemans, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Prof. B. Bocking, University College Cork, Ireland

Prof. dr. R. Bod, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Dr. H. Bogdan, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Prof. L. Bolzoni, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Italy

Prof. J.-P. Brach, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Sorbonne), Paris, France

Prof. dr. W. Breul, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

Prof. dr. R. van den Broek, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands

Prof. dr. W. van Bunge, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Prof. dr J.W.J. Burgers, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Prof. C. Burnett, Warburg Institute, London, United Kingdom

Prof. C.S. Clifton, Colorado State University, Pueblo, USA

Dr. S. Clucas, University of London, United Kingdom

Dr. J. Crispin, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany

Prof. Z. Davydov, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Dr. G. Djurdjevic, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Prof. dr. A. Droogers, Free University Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Prof. W. Eamon, New Mexico State University, USA

Prof. E.G. Ernst, University of Rome, Italy

Prof. A. Faivre, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Sorbonne), Paris, France

Prof. G. Flood, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Dr. P.J. Forshaw, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Prof. dr W. Frijhoff, Free University Amsterdam / Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Prof. B. Galkowski, University of Warsaw, Poland

Prof. I. Gardner, University of Sydney, Australia

Prof. P. Giller, American Jewish University, Los Angeles, USA

Prof. J. Godwin, Colgate University, USA

Prof. N. Goodrick-Clarke, University of Exeter, United Kingdom

Dr. P. Gouk, University of Manchester, United Kingdom

Dr. K. Granholm, University of Stockholm, Sweden

Prof. J.H. Grayson, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom

Prof. dr. E.K. Grootes, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Prof. dr. M. Hagemeister, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany

Dr. H. Hames, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

Prof. O. Hammer, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

Prof. dr. W.J. Hanegraaff, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Prof. S. Hill, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, USA

Dr. W. Hofstee, University of Leiden, The Netherlands

Prof. dr. P.W. van der Horst, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands

Prof. B. Huss, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

Dr. M. Introvigne, CESNUR, Italy

Prof. dr. F.A. Janssen, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Prof. dr. A. F. de Jong, University of Leiden, The Netherlands

Dr. D. Kahn, Centre Nationale des Recherches Scientifiques, France

Prof. A. Kilcher, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland

Prof. J. Kraye, Warburg Institute, London, United Kingdom

Prof. dr. L. Kuitert, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Prof. dr. R. Liedtke, Otto-Friedrich University, Bamberg, Germany

Dr. P. Lucas, Stetson University, DeLand, USA

Dr. C. McIntosh, University of Exeter, United Kingdom

Dr. M. Meumann, Martin-Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany

Prof. T. Miller, University of Kansas, USA

Prof. J. Monfasani, University at Albany/State University of New York, USA

Prof. C. Moreschini, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

Prof. dr. M.E.H.N. Mout, University of Leiden, The Netherlands

Prof. P. Mulacz, University of Vienna, Austria

Prof. dr. M. Mulsow, University of Erfurt, Germany

Prof. dr. L. Nauta, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

Prof. dr. M. Neugebauer-Wölk, Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany

Prof. dr. P. Nissen, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Prof. S.A. Olsen, College of Central Florida, USA

Prof. dr. J. Oosterman, Radboud Universiteit, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Prof. dr. H. van Os, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Dr. M. Pasi, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Prof. M. Pereira, University of Siena, Italy

Prof. V. Perrone Compagni, Università degli Studi, Florence, Italy

Dr. D. Porreca, University of Waterloo, Canada

Prof. L.M. Principe, Johns Hopkins University, USA

Dr. J. Rampling, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Dr. M. Ramstedt, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale, Germany

Prof. V. Rees, London School of Economics, United Kingdom

Prof. R.H. Roberts, Lancaster University, United Kingdom

Prof. G.P. Romagnani, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

Prof. W.F. Ryan, Warburg Institute, London, United Kingdom

Dr. J. Salman, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands

Prof. dr. A. van de Sande, University of Leiden, The Netherlands

Prof. J.A. Santucci, California State University, Fullerton, USA

Prof. dr. W. Schmidt-Biggemann, Free University, Berlin, Germany

Prof. M. Sedgwick, Aarhus University, Denmark

Prof. S. Shamdasani, University College London, United Kingdom

Prof. G. Shaw, Stonehill College, Easton Mass, USA

Prof. dr. C.K.M. von Stuckrad, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

Prof. R. Styers, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

Prof. G.E. Szonyi, University of Szeged, Hungary

Prof. C.T. Tart, University of California, Davis, USA

Dr. K. Triplett, Philipps-Universität, Marburg, Germany

Dr. M. Valente, University of Molise, Italy

Prof. dr. J. Verrips, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Prof. M.E. Warlick, University of Denver, USA

Dr. F. Wefelmeyer, University of Sunderland, United Kingdom

Prof. N. Weill-Parot, University of Paris 8, France

Prof. F. Wesemael, University of Montreal, Canada

Prof. dr. G.A. Wiegers, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Prof. T. Willard, University of Arizona, USA

Prof. dr. J.M. van Winter, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands

Prof. E.R. Wolfson, New York University, New York, USA

Dr. H. Zander, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany

The Ritman Library must be preserved

Scholarly concern about the threatening dissolution of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica