From 2024-2025, Peter J. Forshaw has published a monumental four-volume work (Brill Academic Publishers) about Heinrich Khunrath (1560–1605), one of the great Hermetic philosophers. To celebrate this landmark publication, an afternoon of lectures will be dedicated to works by Khunrath and kindred spirits from the State-owned part of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica.
• 13.15: Entrance with coffee/tea
• 14.00: Opening remarks by Els van der Plas, Director of the Allard Pierson
• 14.10: Lecture by Prof. Dr. Wouter Hanegraaff, Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy, University of Amsterdam
• 14.30: Lecture by Ellen Hausner, University of Oxford (Allard Pierson Friends Fellow)
• 14.50: Lecture by Amber Rozenrichter, Centre for the History of Hermetic Philosophy
• 15.10: Short break
• 15.20: Lecture by Dr. Jennifer Rampling, Princeton University
• 15.50: Lecture by Dr. Peter Forshaw, Centre for the History of Hermetic Philosophy
• 16.20: Q&A and closing remarks led by Prof. Dr. Wouter Hanegraaff
About Peter J. Forshaw
Peter J. Forshaw has a doctorate in Intellectual History and is Associate Professor of Western Esotericism in the Early Modern Period at the Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. He was editor-in-chief of Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism for 10 years (2010-2020), has edited several books, including Lux in Tenebris: The Visual and the Symbolic in Western Esotericism (2016), and is author of Occult: Decoding the Visual Culture of Mysticism, Magic & Divination (2024) and a 4-volume monograph, The Mage’s Images: Heinrich Khunrath in His Oratory and Laboratory (2024)-2025. He has contributed to TV and Radio programs, including BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time and Channel 5’s The Philosophers’ Stone – The True Story.
About The Mage’s Images
The Mage’s Images (2024-2025) is a series of four volumes providing the first in-depth examination of the life and works of Heinrich Khunrath (1560-1605), ‘one of the great Hermetic philosophers’. Khunrath is best known for his novel combination of ‘scripture and picture’ in the complex engravings in his Amphitheatre of Eternal Wisdom (1595/1609), which has been described as ‘one of the most important books in the whole literature of theosophical alchemy and the occult sciences’. The series comprises Vol. 1. Prologue: Bio-Bibliography and Introduction to Khunrath’s Images; Vol. 2. Theosopher & Christian Cabalist; Vol. 3. Mage & Alchemist; and Vol. 4. Epilogue: Reception (from Rosicrucians to Modern Occulture) & Bibliography.
Please note: A special selection from the State-owned part of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica will be available for viewing starting at 12:30. To attend, you must register separately via this link.
Language: English
Peter J. Forshaw, The Mage’s Images: Heinrich Khunrath in His Oratory and Laboratory. Brill, 2024-2025. (4 vols.)
Alchemist’s laboratory and oratory in: Heinrich Khunrath, Amphitheatrvm sapientiae aeternae. Manuscript from 1702. (State-owned part of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, Allard Pierson)