§ · Founding Status
The Order of Founders
Established in Brussels · MMXXVI
It exists. It is closed.
The Order of Founders is established in Brussels this year, in the first register of the House. It cannot be joined. It cannot be requested. It is not offered to anyone. It is not subject to any registration page, any counter, any promise.
It waits. The House does not yet have what it takes to open it.
What it is not
It is not a subscription. It is not a premium service. It is not access to more content. It is not a paid community.
It is an institutional status. It stands in the archives as the Guardians stand in a library: they are registered there before entering.
What it will be
One hundred places. For life. Each place recorded in the physical Register of Guardians of the Library. Each name accompanied by the date, place, and a phrase deposited by the member upon entry.
Each Guardian will participate once a year in the private assembly where major decisions of the House are presented. They will receive each edition before the public. They can deposit, in the archives, annotations intended for future generations.
Their participation does not buy personal benefit. It maintains an institution.
Three conditions for opening
The Order will not open its first invitations until the House possesses three tangible things.
An editorial heritage
Several volumes published, a corpus that fits in a library, a recognizable voice over time.
A place
A physical space that houses the archives, where one can go, where the register can be consulted.
A duration
At least ten thousand active readers, several years of already written history, proof that the House is something other than an initial launch.
How to enter
By invitation, only. Personally addressed by the founder. No applications are possible. No requests are considered.
Entry requires a one-time fee paid to the Foundation. No recurring dues. The House levies nothing else.
If the House never has anything to preserve, the Order will never open.
This is the only promise we make to ourselves.
Andreas Cousouras
Founder · Brussels · MMXXVI
