In 2012 the Warburg Institute received the bequest of the Library of Michael Innes (1897-1980). This collection, which includes several early printed books and manuscripts, is now being integrated into the Warburg Library, thereby consolidating our already extensive holdings in the fields of Alchemy, Philosophy, Magic, Hermetism, Rosicrucianism, Kabbalah and related subjects from the 16th to the 20th century in Latin, English, French, German, Dutch and Italian.
The Renaissance section of the Innes collection includes original editions and translations of key works by Marsilio Ficino, Francesco Colonna, Cornelius Agrippa, Francesco Giorgio, Paracelsus, John Dee, Robert Fludd, Heinrich Kunrath, Michael Maier, Basilius Valentinius, Knorr von Rosenroth to name but a few.
The Innes books expand the range of the Warburg collections well into the 17th, 18th and 19th century, from the writings of the Rosicrucians, to broader works dedicated to modern Hermeticism. Alchemy dominates the collection with essential anthologies such as the multi-volume Bibliotheca Chymica as well as printed editions and manuscript of the corpus of alchemical writings attributed to Ramon Lull from the 14th century onwards.