The library's holdings concentrate on four main areas:
1. Hermetic philosophy. The term 'Hermetica' is derived from the works attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, written in the 2nd-3rd centuries of our era, which were preserved in Greek, some of which are now known under the collective name Corpus Hermeticum. In the Middle Ages, only one Hermetic work, the Latin Asclepius, was known, a text frequently used by amongst others Cardinal Nicolas of Cusa. Around 1460 Marsilio Ficino translated the Greek Hermetic texts into Latin at the request of Cosimo de Medici. The relationship of the Corpus Hermeticum with neo-Platonic philosophy was soon established. From that time on the Corpus Hermeticum was to exert great influence on philosophers as Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Agrippa von Nettesheim, Paracelsus, Johannes Reuchlin, Giordano Bruno, but also on utopists such as Tommaso Campanella and Francis Bacon. The influence of hermeticism can be detected in the other three collection areas mysticism, alchemy and Rosicrucians.
2. Mysticism. Mysticism and Hermetic philosophy are closely related spiritual movements, and have influenced each other. Instances of such mutuality can be found in the works of medieval philosophers (Heinrich Suso, Meister Eckhart and Johannes Tauler) and later philosophers such as Jacob Böhme.
3. Alchemy. Alchemy is based on the observation of the opposition between the visible (material) and the invisible (spiritual) world. The alchemical practice became a metaphor for the reconciliation between these opposites in man, the microcosm, and carried Christian overtones: many alchemists equated the much sought-after philosophers' stone with the resurrected Christ.
4. Rosicrucians. There are aspects of hermetic philosophy, alchemy and mysticism in the works of the early Rosicrucians. The Rosicrucian manifestoes Fama fraternitatis, Confessio fraternitatis and Chymische Hochzeit (1614-1616) advocated a radical reformation of religion and sciences, a proposition which reverberated in religious and academic circles throughout the 17th century.
This brief characterization of the four main areas may have already made clear that the following areas of interest: pure medicine, chemistry, magic, astrology and modern occultism fall outside the scope of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica. Works which fall within the broad context of European spiritual culture (e.g. Books of Hours, editions of the Bible) are, however, included.
The library was opened to the public in 1984, thus adding a rich source of spiritual thought to the cultural heritage of the Netherlands. The visitors' library opened its doors in the Bloemstraat in 1984. Publications in Dutch and foreign media attracted attention to the library and generated a great number of national and international contacts. As a result, the library has developed close ties with various institutes, libraries and individual scholars. The library also found international recognition through its participation in conferences, its active exhibitions policy, the publication of exhibition catalogues, and its participation in exhibitions elsewhere. In 1985 the library became a member of the Grolier Club.
Since 1984 the collection has been significantly enlarged by the acquisition of a great number of works from the ninth to the twentieth century. The library's own research projects brought to light new historical facts, for instance with regard to the hermetic tradition in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century. An automated on-site short-title catalogue of the book collection is available for the use of readers.
Following the "ad fontes" principle, the library tries to collect the oldest instances of those works coming within its sphere of interest; that is to say: manuscript or first and early editions. To date, the library contains some 16,000 volumes, among them many books that are of invaluable spiritual importance because of their antiquity, rareness, philosophical-religious value or artistic quality. The library holds approximately 450 manuscripts (ca. 200 dating before 1550), some 4,000 books printed before 1800 (400 of which are incunables: books printed between 1450 and 1500) and 11,000 books printed after 1800.
The Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica aims to document and make accessible the hermetic tradition by means of making available its sources, by publishing exhibition catalogues and text editions, and by carrying out research. The library and publishing activities are geared to realize these objectives. Exhibitions of works from the library's own holdings are always on view in the library at the Bloemstraat, and are generally accompanied by exhibition catalogues; the library also regularly honours loan requests for exhibitions elsewhere. Of the works which have been published by 'In de Pelikaan', the library's own publishing house the following two are mentioned as examples: the catalogue of the first part library's incunable collection: Christ, Plato, Hermes Trismegistus (1990), and the Dutch translation of the Corpus Hermeticum (fourth edition 1996).