Jacob Böhme

The BPH is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary with an exhibition on Jacob Böhme (1575-1624). A pivotal figure in the exhibition is Abraham Willemsz van Beyerland (1586-1648). A merchant, presbyter and orphan master of the Amsterdam Walloon Church he inclined towards spiritualism, ’preferred the spirit above the letter’ and was gripped by Böhme. Beyerland translated and published the Corpus Hermeticum into Dutch, but he is known above all as the first collector, translator and publisher of original manuscripts (autographs) and early copies of Böhme’s werk.

In the space of twenty years (from around 1630), Beyerland published virtually the entire work of Böhme in Dutch. Thanks to his fervent collecting and publishing practices, which he was able to pursue all the better in the tolerant climate of the 17th-century Republic of the Netherlands, Böhme’s work left the (Amsterdam) presses in Dutch even before it was published in his native language German. Beyerland’s collection of autographs and early copies of Böhme’s work are now for the first time (for the larger part) back in its former home Amsterdam.

Jacob Böhme was born in Alt Seidenberg in Silesia nearby Görlitz, where he worked as a master shoemaker. He received his first vision in 1600, a second one in 1610, which he recorded in Morgenrote im Aufgang, also called Aurora. Böhme believed his visions had granted him insight in the origin of the cosmos, divine reality, the bond existing between God and man and the relationship between good and evil. According to Böhme, mankind has lapsed from a condition of divine grace into a state of sin and suffering. It is God’s purpose to restore the world to its original state with the help of his creation. Böhme’s views on the relationship between mankind and God were less dualistic than those of orthodox Christian theologians.

Although he remained within the Christian fold, he was inspired by the works of 16th-century writers like the alchemist and physician Paracelsus, the spirititualist Kaspar Schwenkfeld and the mystic Valentin Weigel. The German philosopher Hegel (1770-1827) traced the roots of German philosophy to Böhme’s works and awarded him the honorary epithet ’Philosophicus Teutonicus’. Earlier the mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz (1646-1716) had called Böhme the ‘first German philosopher’. Others who were influenced by Böhme were the romantic philosopher Friedrich Schelling (1775-1854) and modern thinkers like the protestant theologian Paul Tillich and the Jewish philosopher of religion Martin Buber.

In spite of the posthumous praise, Böhme’s views were not unanimously embraced in his own time. Orthodox theologians took him to task: this simple man, who did not know any Latin, could not possibly possess any literary talent. They even claimed that ’Böhme did not write a single line of all that has been attributed to him’. Gregor Richter, the Lutheran chief minister of Görlitz, saw to it that Böhme’s first work, the Aurora (1612) was confiscated and he also made sure that the man he called a ‘fanatical cobbler’ was served with a writing ban for five years. The absolute top item in the exhibition in the BPH is this confiscated manuscript of the Aurora. The original manuscript, which the collector Beyerland acquired after a long search in 1642, can be admired in a showcase along with other autographs of Böhme.

Because of the publication ban, Böhme’s works first circulated in manuscript copies amongst his followers. They eagerly copied the products of his writing desk, with the inevitable result that less reliable texts circulated along with manuscripts that were closer to the original. The autograph showcase also contains the letters which Beyerland collected and compiled. In these ’erbauliche’, pastoral epistles, Böhme clarified his philosophy for his friends, although they were at the same time intended for a wider audience, as researcher José Bouman explains.

Another top item in the exhibition in the BPH is the first edition of Der Weg zu Christo. Böhme wrote it in 1622; it was printed in Görlitz in 1624, without his knowledge. Bouman: ‘It is the only text which appeared in print during his life. We have long thought that our library owned the only surviving copy, but there appear to be two more, one in Harvard and one in the Lutheran seminary in Wittenberg, a bulwark of Böhme’s opponents.’
The exhibition sheds light on the circle of guardians of Böhme’s spiritual thought and the (inter)national itinerary of the works originally collected by Beyerland. Bouman: ‘His collection was taken to Berlin by German followers of Böhme in the eighteenth century. A hundred years later, in 1896, the collection was moved to Linz on the Rhine, where the works remained safe until the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1942 the Gestapo raided the library of the Böhme community in Linz and seized the entire collection. Occultists, spiritists and other ’dissident’ ideological currents were suspect in the eyes of the Nazis. They probably regarded the theosophy of the small circle of Böhme disciples as part of the nineteenth-century theosophical movement, which they also persecuted.’

It proved possible to explain the error, after which the collection returned to Böhme’s native town Görlitz, from where, packed in book cases, it was separated and sent to three neighbouring castles. The books which were moved to Joachimstein, east of the river Neisse, remained in Wroclaw (the former Breslau, now in Poland) when the Oder-Neisse border was finally established. Five autographs which were out on loaned prior to the Gestapo raid are in Wolfenbüttel since 1970, the rest of the collection has returned to Görlitz.

Beyerland’s collection can be seen in the BPH until 2 May next year.

Jacob Böhme’s Way into the World: exhibition of manuscripts and printed books, until 2-5-2008, Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, Bloemstraat 15, Amsterdam, www.ritmanlibrary.nl

Abraham Willemsz van Beyerland, Hendrik van Someren, 1640

'After centuries a book treasure returns to the Huis met de Hoofden'

Recent research has revealed unsuspected ties between the Amsterdam Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica and the Huis met de Hoofden on Keizersgracht, the future location of the library of Hermetic philosophy.

It has the makings of a detective story: while searching for the work of the 17th-century German theosopher and philosopher Jacob Böhme, researchers of the Amsterdam Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica (BPH) came across old printed books and manuscripts now in Sweden which were originally part of the library in the Huis met de Hoofden, the future premises of the BPH.

On 15 November the city council of Amsterdam and Joost Ritman, the new owner and founder of the BPH, signed the deed of conveyance of the Huis met de Hoofden, built in 1622. No other 17th-century canal house in Amsterdam has preserved so many authentic features. For a long time (1635-1779) the house was the residence of the renowned De Geer family. In the seventeenth century, members of the family generously supported the Czech scholar Jan Amos Comenius (1592-1670), founder of modern pedagogics and advocate of world peace. Thanks to the arms merchant Louis de Geer, who owned copper and silver mines in Sweden and acted as an advisor and financer of the Swedish King Gustav Adolph, Comenius received an assignment to reform the Swedish educational system. In 1656 Louis’ son Laurens de Geer offered Comenius hospitality in the Huis met de Hoofden.
But the family did a lot more. It turns out the De Geers played a central role in the haven of dissident thought which Amsterdam in the 17th century was. While carying out research for the Böhme exhibition, Carlos Gilly, senior researcher of the BPH, discovered that the Huis met de Hoofden contained a collection the contents of which bore great similarities to that of the BPH, while the number of old printed books and manscripts must have been roughly equal to that presently owned by the BPH.

It also turned out that the De Geer family sponsored the research and publications of dissident writers and philosophers, altogether in the spirit of the free Republic of the Netherlands. It is not unlikely that a man like Abraham Willemsz van Beyerland (see the main text) was a frequent visitor to the Huis met de Hoofden.
Gilly made his discovery a few weeks ago when examining the catalogue of the city library of Norrköping in Sweden. The library owns a large collection of books which were formerly part of the library in the Huis met de Hoofden. BPH researcher José Bouman explains how his came about. ‘Louis de Geer did not only maintain close ties with the Swedish royal house, he also decided to move to that country. He built a castle in Finspong and took the book collection in the Huis met de Hoofden with him to Sweden.’

She points at a small book in one of the showcases of the Böhme exhibition, which belongs to the ’Finspongssamlingen’ of Norrköping city library. Its title is Vergaderinge der noch resterende XXIII seer geestrijcke leer- en stichtelijcke brieven, and it contains twelve letters written by Jacob Böhme, in a translation by Michael le Blon. ‘It is the only copy of the edition of 1653 known to have survived’, Bouman says.

Further investigation revealed that the Finspong collection of the De Geer family must have contained more dissident material. Bouman: ‘We also found letters and dedications praising the De Geer family, members of the circle of Böhme followers, for its patronage of dissident thought. Norrköping even has a statue of De Geer.’ This makes the Huis met de Hoofden more than just a magnificent house, Bouman affirms. ‘In a few years’ time, following the relocation of the BPH, the Huis met de Hoofden will have its former function restored to it, as it was in the 17th century.’

Translation of an article by Cokky van Limpt which appeared in Trouw on 14-11-2007

Huis met de Hoofden, Keizersgracht 123