Press
Source Library
An initiative of the Embassy of the Free Mind, Amsterdam. AI-powered translations of 5,000+ rare historical texts, freely available online.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — February 22, 2026
Source Library Launches Open Beta: 5,000 Rare Books Translated by AI
Amsterdam, February 22, 2026 — Source Library, an initiative of the Embassy of the Free Mind in Amsterdam, today launches its open beta: a digital library of over 5,000 rare historical texts from the 15th through 19th centuries, translated into modern English using artificial intelligence.
Most books written before 1800 have never been translated into any modern language. Source Library uses Gemini AI to produce first-ever English translations of works on early science, philosophy, medicine, alchemy, theology, Hermeticism, and the Kabbalah — making texts previously accessible only to specialists available to anyone with an internet connection.
The collection draws from 13 major digital libraries worldwide, including the Internet Archive, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Bodleian Library at Oxford, the Vatican Library, and the Bavarian State Library. Every page preserves the original manuscript alongside its AI translation, allowing readers to verify and improve the text.
Source Library is free to read and cite. It is based at the Embassy of the Free Mind in Amsterdam, home to the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica — one of the world's most important collections of Hermetic philosophy, recognized by UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
Key Facts
Source Libraries
Source Library aggregates and translates digitised rare books from these institutions:
- •Internet Archive
- •Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica)
- •Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
- •Vatican Library (DigiVatLib)
- •Bavarian State Library (MDZ)
- •Cambridge Digital Library
- •Wellcome Collection
- •Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel
- •e-rara (Swiss National Library)
- •Library of Congress
- •Europeana
- •Google Books (via IA mirror)
- •Biblissima IIIF Aggregator
About the Embassy of the Free Mind
The Embassy of the Free Mind is an international centre for free thought and the history of ideas, located on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam. It houses the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica (BPH), founded by Joost R. Ritman in 1984 — one of the world's preeminent collections of Hermetic philosophy, mysticism, alchemy, and related traditions.
In 2019, the core of the BPH was inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register, recognizing its outstanding universal significance for the intellectual heritage of humanity. The collection spans manuscripts and printed works from the 1st to the 20th century.
Source Library extends the mission of the Embassy by making these and related texts freely accessible in digital form, with AI-generated English translations to reach a global audience.
Press Contact
For press enquiries, interviews, and high-resolution images:
Email: press@sourcelibrary.org
Website: sourcelibrary.org