Not a hoax sadly
. I got my mail from a leading prof at amsterdam uni. The petition website gives more detail. Dave e Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2010 10:07:58 -0700
Subject: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Threat to Ritman Library?
Hello Academic Magic Listers,
Perhaps someone here can shed more light on the attempted break up and sell off of the BPH library, as well as on the value of the library as an academic resource. The link makes it seem as if the library's original owner could not pay the bills and that the Dutch government, going through crises of its own, saw fit to start selling it off piece by piece. I received this notice from a Golden Dawn list I am on. I have no firsthand or secondhand knowledge of this event, and am only using my nose to guess it is not a hoax.
Here is the notice I received:
The Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica (BPH, or Ritman Library) in Amsterdam has been a very important institution for research into hermetic philosophy and related currents, particularly early modern Rosicrucianismand alchemy, for decades. In a dramatic and very unsettling turn of events, the library's existence as we know it is now being threatened. It is all very unclear what will happen, but there is no doubt that spreading the word and creating attention around the developments is the least we can do to try and influence things in the best possible direction – to save the library, the staff, and its national heritage collection of manuscripts and printed books. Please sign this petition, and feel free to spread the word to anyone you think should know about this. For more information roll over the link:
http://heterodoxology.wordpress.com/2010/11/24/save-the-bibliotheca-philosophica-hermetica/
Eric N. Peterson, Ph.D.