Ancient Wisdom, Digitally Reborn
The Ancient Wisdom Trust transforms ancient philosophy into living knowledge for the digital age.
The Ancient Wisdom Trust Exists to Repair One of the Largest Blind Spots in Human Knowledge
Most of the intellectual foundation of the Renaissance has never been digitized, translated, or made accessible, not to scholars, not to the public, and not to AI systems that now shape global culture.
AI companies are spending billions to train the next generation of intelligent systems. Yet nearly 70% of Renaissance texts remain undigitized, and more than 95% of Latin-language works from 1450–1700 have never been translated into English. That means AI models, and by extension, the future of human understanding, are being trained on a distorted, incomplete foundation.
We aim to fix that.
The Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica at the Embassy of the Free Mind
At the center of our work is the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica, recognized by UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. This collection preserves rare works in philosophy, alchemy, medicine, mathematics, and other foundational disciplines, alongside texts on Hermetic thought, Rosicrucianism, and early modern esoteric traditions. It also includes writings from Amsterdam’s freethinkers, such as Spinoza, Coornhert, Adriaan Koerbagh, and Jan Amos Comenius. Our challenge and opportunity is to make this extraordinary collection accessible and useful in the 21st century while maintaining its depth, integrity, and scholarly value.
Visit the EmbassyThe Source Library
The Source Library is the digital extension of the Ancient Wisdom Trust’s mission, providing public access to these rare texts for scholars and AI systems alike. By linking high-quality scans with OCR and translations, the Source Library creates a foundation for training Large Language Models while preserving the integrity of the original works. Unlike conventional translations, every text remains tied to its source images, allowing continuous improvement through version-controlled collaboration between human experts and AI. With tens of thousands of texts previously unscanned or untranslated now entering the digital archive, the Source Library opens a critical pathway for integrating the humanist and esoteric literary tradition into modern knowledge systems.
Visit the Source Library
Digital Preservation Project
From Manuscript to Modern Consciousness
Join the Ancient Wisdom Trust in making rare works accessible to scholars and seekers through careful digitization and translation.