Laudatio Joost R. Ritman

Delivered by Prof. dr. Maria A. Schenkeveld-van der Dussen, chairwoman of the Arts Department of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, on the occasion of awarding the Academy's Silver Medal to Joost R. Ritman on 13 May 2002.

The first impressions a visitor of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica receives are those of 'openness' and 'respect' – this at any rate was my experience. Naturally, we feel profound respect first of all for what has been brought together in this valuable collection. The secondary literature is placed on the shelves in orderly fashion, but equally accessible are the shelves with rare, sometimes unique valuable sources, from incunables to such wonderful books as, to name only one, a copy of Dante's Divina Commedia (1564) with splendid coloured woodcuts. In front of the bookcases in the modern sections are long reading tables and comfortable chairs. In short, this library radiates respect for its visitors. Clearly it is also expected that the visitor will handle the valuable materials cautiously and respectfully and therefore one is allowed – on request – to take the books into one's own hands and read them, in other words, use them. This is seldom seen in today's libraries which – in many ways understandably but nevertheless sadly – seem inclined rather to preserve the valuable possessions for eternity by wrapping them in acid-free paper and keeping them as far from readers as possible, preferring them to work with microfilms. Together with this openness, Joost Ritman himself comes into the picture. His world view indeed entails a deep respect for man and at the same time a philosophical view of the transitoriness of everything earthly: all matter will sooner or later be lost, even the best-preserved books will not escape this fate. Is it not better to make them available now to those who want to use them seriously and studiously?

Mr. Ritman, you summarized your curriculum vitae on a single page. If one knows how to interpret the brief information, one may also discern an understandable pride in this modesty. 'Education: Mulo (secondary school)', it says. If one wonders why it remained at that and why the also expressed 'interest in a university study' (theology and philosophy) did not lead to an academic education, one only needs to pay attention to the dates. Putting it in plain terms: your father needed you. Born in 1941, you began working in the family business 'De Ster' in 1957 – when you were about sixteen years of age. This company, of which you became director in 1969, produced so-called 'disposables' for airline companies, the plastic forks and knives all of us present today have wrestled with at some point. But if one realizes what was built with the proceeds, one will use this plastic cutlery with the utmost pleasure. For it is 'De Ster', later 'Helios', the Sun, that made possible your wish to collect Hermetica. From secondary school to the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica – the time-span in-between them must have been filled with intensive and independent study.

For, naturally, not money but a view of life is the cornerstone of the library. You began collecting when your eyes had been opened to the deep truths of the centuries-old Hermetic-Christian tradition that searches for Divinity in the All, where man as microcosm is placed in the centre by the Creator. In this context you like to quote Hermes Trismegistus, in the words of Pico della Mirandola: 'Magnum miraculum est homo', a great miracle is man, part of the divine. In the interview that appeared in the Akademie Nieuws you explain how the new insight struck you when cycling as a boy: 'Suddenly I woke up. It was as if I heard the heartbeat of eternity'. From that moment on you have worked for the library, again in your own words 'day and night'. At first the collection was private, taking the movement of the Rosicrucians as its starting point, but in 1985 it was transformed into a scholarly library and study centre. The location of Amsterdam was not chosen randomly: for centuries this tolerant and hospitable city has been at the centre of publishing activities in your collecting areas. In this respect, the publishing house In de Pelikaan next to the research centre also forms part of an old tradition. That in 1993 the library came under the protection of the 'Wet tot behoud van cultuurbezit' (the Cultural Heritage Act) was an important development showing that the Dutch government recognized the national cultural importance of this library. Its renown is great, both at home and abroad. Joint projects with prestigious foreign libraries has led to impressive exhibitions in Wolfenbüttel, Florence - a radiant centre of Christian Hermetism in the Renaissance - and Venice amongst other places. It will be Amsterdam's turn in the future. On a smaller scale, the library regularly presents thematic exhibitions from its own holdings, again accompanied by interesting catalogues of lasting value.

The Hermetic tradition is broadly defined in the library. Next to the Rosicrucians already mentioned there are fields of interest such as gnosis, kabbalah, alchemy, the latter not so much in the sense of the practical art of gold-making but as a quest for the Philosopher's Stone, sometimes interpreted as Christ, mysticism represented by amongst others Meister Eckhart and Ruusbroec, and Protestant mysticism as expressed in the work of Jakob Böhme, whose influence was also evident in the Netherlands. Thus an important and broad sub-current of European culture is visibly present in the library. A collection that found its origin in a personal philosophy of life has also gained exceptional scholarly importance.

Many members of our Academy have a larger or smaller library at home. They all know what it takes to preserve and maintain such a private collection: contacts with antiquarian booksellers and auction houses and the study of catalogues and bibliographies. For a library such as yours more work and study is involved: comparing and studying copies, tracing of former owners in order to place the books in their cultural environments but, first of all of course, studying their contents to further the progress of historical research in the field of Hermetica in its broadest sense. Furthermore, the openness of the collections is enhanced by enabling visitors to access them not only physically but to some extent also virtually: the library has launched an attractive and interesting website where amongst other information richly illustrated catalogues of previous exhibitions may be consulted. Thus ancient wisdom is connected with the most modern technology and the ancient gnosis can be found in the new cosmos of knowledge.

Naturally, this has not been a one-man job. You called in the help of an expert staff, but it is clear also that you are yourself still closely involved in studying and collecting books. This makes you the ideal mecenas: not only a financial pillar of support but especially also an interested thinker as appears also from the introductions to the catalogues often written by yourself.

Not only the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica has profited from your patronage. Museums, cultural institutions, public buildings have often experienced your generous support. With your support also, for example, the beautiful portrait of the Remonstrant minister Johannes Uyttenbogaert painted by Rembrandt has found a home in the Rijksmuseum, and the Westerkerk – around the corner from your house –has been wonderfully restored with your help as well. But as my time is limited today I hope and trust that you agree that I have given centre stage to the Bloemgracht.

For your generous support to culture and the sciences, for the way in which you have given shape to a unique, well-defined but at the same time broad collection and study centre, and for the openness with which you welcome researchers who come and study your treasures, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences with much conviction awards you the Silver Academy Medal 2002.