Memory of the World Programme

Map showing the distribution of documentary heritages by State Parties as of 2007. Note: transboundary sites have been redistributed among the concerned countries for the locator map, hence, have been counted multiple times.

UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme [1] is an international initiative launched in 1992 in order to guard against collective amnesia calling upon the preservation of the valuable archive holdings and library collections all over the world ensuring their wide dissemination.

The Memory of the World Register [2] lists documentary heritage which has been identified by the International Advisory Committee in its meetings in Tashkent (September 1997), in Vienna (June 1999), in Cheongju City (June 2001), in Gdansk (August 2003) and in Lijiang (June 2005) and endorsed by the Director-General of UNESCO as corresponding to the selection criteria for world significance.

Since 2005 UNESCO also presents the Jikji prize to further promote the objectives of the Memory of the World Programme.

The list of documentary heritage consist of the following objects:

Albania

• Codex Purpureus Beratinus (2005)

Argentina

• Documents of the Viceroyalty of Rio de Plata (1997)
  National Archives, Buenos Aires

Armenia

• Mashtots Matenadaran Ancient Manuscripts (1997)
  Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, Yerevan

Australia

• Endeavour Journal of James Cook (2001)
  National Library of Australia, Canberra
• Mabo Case Manuscripts (2001)
  National Library of Australia, Canberra
• Landmark Constituional Documents of the Commonwealth of Australia (2008)

Austria

• Vienna Dioscurides (1997)
  Austrian National Library, Vienna
• Final Document of the Congress of Vienna (1997)
  Austrian State Archives, Vienna
• Historical Collections (1899-1950) (1999)
  Phonogrammarchiv, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna
• Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer (2001)
  Austrian National Library, Vienna
• Vienna City Library's Schubert Collection (2001)
  Vienna City Library, Vienna
• Atlas Blaeu-Van der Hem of the Austrian National Library (2003)
• Brahms Collection (2005)
• Collection of Gothic Architectural Drawings (2005)
• Tabula Peutingeriana (2007)

Azerbaijan

• Medieval manuscripts on medicine and pharmacy (2005)

Barbados

• Documentary Heritage of Enslaved Peoples of the Caribbean (2003)

Belgium

• Business Archives of the Officina Plantiniana (2001)
  Museum Plantin-Moretus, Antwerpen

Benin

• Colonial archives (1997)
  National Archives, Porto Novo

Brazil

• Emperor's collection: foreign and Brazilian photography in the XIX century (2003)

Canada

• Hudson's Bay Company Archive (2007)
• French Seminary Records of New France colony (2007)

Chile

• Human Rights Archive (2003)
• Jesuits of America (2003)

China

• Traditional Music Sound Archives (1997)
  Music Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Arts, Beijing
• Records of the Qing's Grand Secretariat (1999)
  First Historical Archives of China, Palace Museum, Beijing
• Ancient Naxi Dongba Literature Manuscripts (2003)
• Golden Lists of the Qing Dynasty Imperial Examination (2005)

Colombia

• Negros y Esclavos Archives (2005)

Cuba

• “José Martí Pérez” Fonds (2005)

Denmark

• Archives of the Danish overseas trading companies (1997)
  Danish National Archives, Copenhagen
• Linné Collection (1997)
  Danish National Library of Sciences and Medicine, Copenhagen
• Manuscripts and correspondence of Hans Christian Andersen (1997)
  Manuscript Department, Royal Library, Copenhagen
• Søren Kierkegaard Archives (1997)
  Manuscript Department, Royal Library, Copenhagen

Egypt

• Memory of the Suez Canal (1997)
  Cultural Bureau, Egyptian Embassy, Paris
• Deeds of Sultans and Princes (2005)

Ethiopia

• Treasures from National Archives and Library Organizations (1997)
  National Archives and Library, Addis Ababa

Finland

• A.E. Nordenskiöld Collection (1997)
  University Library, Helsinki

France

• Bayeux Tapestry (2007)
• Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789-1791) (2003)
• The Appeal of 18 June 1940 (2005)
• Lumière Films (2005)
• Introduction of the decimal metric system, 1790-1837 (2005)

Germany

• Early cylinder recordings of the world's musical traditions (1893-1952) in the Berlin Phonogramm-Archiv (1999)
  Phonogrammarchiv, Museum of Ethnology, Berlin
• Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony n°9, d-minor, op.125 (2001)
  State Library, Berlin

 Listen to the 'Ode to Joy' finale from the UNESCO concert in Berlin, 12 January 2003: Watch Here

• Literary estate of Goethe (2001)
  Goethe and Schiller Archives, Weimar
• 42-line Gutenberg Bible (2001)
  State and Universitary Library of Lower Saxonia, Goettingen
• Metropolis film (2001)
  Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation, Wiesbaden
• Illuminated manuscripts from the Ottonian period produced in the monastery of Reichenau (Lake Constance) (2003)
• Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children’s and Household Tales) (2005)
• World map "Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii aliorumque Lustrationes" by Martin Waldseemüller. In possession of the Library of Congress, Washington (D.C.) since 2003 (2005)

Hungary

• Kálmán Tihanyi's 1926 Patent Application "Radioskop" (2001)
  National Archives of Hungary, Budapest
• The Bibliotheca Corviniana Collection (2005)

India

• I.A.S. Tamil Medical Manuscript Collection (1997)
  Institute of Asian Studies, Tamil Nadu
• Saiva Manuscripts in Pondicherry (2005)
• The Rig Veda(2006)

Italy

• The Malatesta Novello Library (2005), Malatestiana Library, Cesena

Iran

• “Bayasanghori Shâhnâmeh” (Prince Bayasanghor’s Book of the Kings) (2007)
• The Deed For Endowment: Rab’ I-Rashidi (Rab I-Rashidi Endowment) 13th Century manuscript (2007)

Kazakhstan

• Collection of manuscripts of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi (2003)
• Audiovisual documents of the International antinuclear movement “Nevada-Semipalatinsk” (2005)

Korea

• Hunmin Jeongeum manuscript (1997)
  Kansong Art Museum, Seoul
• Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (1997)
  Jeongjoksan Sagobon, Seoul
• Jikji (Buljo jikji simche yojeol (vol. II)), the second volume of "Anthology of Great Buddhist Priests’ Zen Teachings" (2001)
  Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
• Seungjeongwon Diaries, the Diaries of the Royal Secretariat (2001)
  Gyujanggak Library and Seoul National University, Seoul
• Tripitaka Koreana (2007)
  Haeinsa Temple, Hapcheon
• Joseon Uigue(2007)
  Seoul, Some volume in Paris

Latvia

• Dainu skapis - Cabinet of Folksongs (2001)
  Archives of Latvian Folklore, Riga

Lebanon

• Commemorative stela of Nahr el-Kalb, Mount Lebanon (2005)
• The Phoenician Alphabet (2005)

Luxembourg

• Family of Man (2003)

Malaysia

• Correspondence of the late Sultan of Kedah (1882-1943) (2001)
  National Archives of Malaysia, Alor Setar
• Hikayat Hang Tuah (2001)
  National Library of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
• Sejarah Melayu (the Malay Annals) (2001)
  Institute of Language and Literature, Kuala Lumpur

Mauritius

• Records of the French Occupation of Mauritius (1997)
  Mauritius Archives, Petite Rivière, Port Louis, Q-Bornes

Mexico

• Collection of Mexican Codices (1997)
  National Library of Anthropology and History, Mexico City
• Codices from the Oaxaca Valley (1997)
  National Archives, Mexico City
• Codex Techaloyan from Cuajimalpaz (1997)
  National Archives, Mexico City
• Los olvidados film by Luis Buñuel (2003)
  Filmoteca de la UNAM, Mexico
• Biblioteca Palafoxiana (2005)
• Amerindian Language Collection (2007)

Namibia

• Letter Journals of Hendrik Witbooi (2005)

Netherlands

• Library Ets Haim – Livraria Montezinos (2003)
• Archives of the Dutch East India Company (2003)

New Zealand

• Treaty of Waitangi (1997)
  National Archives, Wellington
• The 1893 Women's Suffrage Petition (1997)
  National Archives, Wellington

Norway

• The Leprosy Archives of Bergen (2001) including foreword in English *Lepraarkivene i Bergen
  City Archives and Regional State Archives of Bergen, Bergen
• Henrik Ibsen: A Doll's House (2001)
  National Library of Norway, Oslo
• Roald Amundsen's South Pole Expedition (1910-1912) (2005)

Pakistan

• Jinnah Papers (1999)
  National Archives, Islamabad

Paraguay

• Archives of Terror (2000)

Philippines

• Philippine Paleographs (Hanunoo, Buid, Tagbanua and Pala'wan) (1999)
  National Museum, Manila
• Radio Broadcast of the Philippine People Power Revolution (2003)

Poland

• Nicolaus Copernicus' masterpiece "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium" (1999)
  Jagiellonian Library, Jagiellonian University, Kraków
• Warsaw Ghetto Archives (Emanuel Ringelblum Archives) (1999)
  Jewish Historical Research Institute, Warsaw
• The Masterpieces of Frédéric Chopin (1999)
  The Fryderyk Chopin Society, Warsaw
• The General Confederation of Warsaw (2003)
• 21 demands of MKS, Gdańsk, August 1980. The birth of the Solidarity trade union – a massive social movement. (2003)
• The Codex of Supraśl. (2007)

Portugal

• Pero Vaz de Caminha's Letter to H. M. Manuel I about the finding of Brazil (2005)
• Corpo Cronológico (2007)
• Treaty of Tordesillas (2007)

Russian Federation

• Archangel Gospel of 1092 (1997)
  Russian State Library, Moscow
• Khitrovo Gospel (1997)
  Russian State Library, Moscow
• Slavonic publications in Cyrillic script of the 15th century (1997)
  Russian State Library, Moscow
• Newspaper collections (1997)
  Russian State Library, Moscow
• Maps of the Russian empire and its collection of the 18th century (1997)
  Russian State Library, Moscow
• Russian posters of the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries (1997)
  Russian State Library, Moscow
• Historical Collections (1889-1955) of St. Petersburg Phonogram Archives (2001)
  Institute of Russian Literature and Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg

Saudi Arabia

• Earliest Islamic (Kufic) inscription (2003)

Senegal

• Afrique occidentale française, AOF (1997)
  National Archives, Dakar

Serbia

• Nikola Tesla’s Archive (2003)
• Miroslav Gospels – Manuscript from 1180 (2005)

Slovakia

• Illuminated Codices from the Library of the Bratislava Chapter House (1997)
  National Archives, Bratislava
• Basagic Collection of Islamic Manuscripts (1997)
  University Library, Bratislava

South Africa

• The Bleek collection (1997)
  University of Cape Town / South African Library, Cape Town

Sweden

• Astrid Lindgren Archives (2005)
• Emanuel Swedenborg Collection (2005)
• Ingmar Bergman Collection (2007)

Tajikistan

• Ubayd Zakoni's "Kulliyat" and Hafez Sherozi's "Gazalliyt" manuscript (XIV century) (2003)

Tanzania

• German Records of the National Archives (1997)
  National Archives, Dar Es Salam
• Collection of Arabic Manuscripts and Books (2003)

Thailand

• King Ram Khamhaeng Inscription (2003)
• Thai Laws and Proclamations on the Abolition of Slavery nominated 30 March 2006

Trinidad and Tobago

• The Derek Walcott Collection (1997)
  The Main Library, University of West Indies, St. Augustine
• The Eric Williams Collection (1999)
  The Main Library, University of West Indies, St. Augustine
• C.L.R. James Collection (2005)

Turkey

• The Hittite cuneiform tablets from Bogazköy (2001)
  Archaeological Museums of Istanbul and Museum of Anatolian Civilizations of Ankara
• Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute Manuscripts (2001)
  Boğaziçi University, Kandilli Observatory
  and Earthquake Research Institute, Istanbul
• Works of Ibn Sina in the Süleymaniye Manuscript Library (2003)

Ukraine

• Collection of Jewish Musical Folklore (1912-1947) (2005)

United Kingdom

• The Battle of the Somme (2005)
• Hereford Mappa Mundi (2006)

United States

• The Wizard of Oz (2007)

Uruguay

• Original records of Carlos Gardel - Horacio Loriente Collection (1913-1935) (2003)

Uzbekistan

• Holy Koran Mushaf of Othman (1997)
  The Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, Tashkent
• Collection of the Al-Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies (1997)
  Academy of Sciences, Tashkent

Venezuela

• Escritos del libertador (1997)
  National Archives, Caracas
• Collection of Latinamerican photography of the 19th Century (1997)
  National Library, Caracas

External links

• Memory of the World Register of UNESCO