Memory of the World

The UNESCO Memory of the World Programme is a global initiative to safeguard the world’s documentary heritage against collective amnesia, the ravages of war, decay and deterioration.

In 1993 a United Nations committee met to plan how to preserve significant documentary heritage from across the globe by cataloguing and protecting historical archives for future generations to learn from and enjoy.

The result is the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, the documentary heritage equivalent of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Its mission is to focus world attention on the need to safeguard endangered and unique library and archive collections and make them accessible to everyone.

Registers

National: The UK Memory of the World Register honours documentary heritage of national and regional significance and includes documents such as the Death Warrant of King Charles I. This invaluable archive is a remarkable and rich insight into a small island’s past and mark on the world. This is Britain’s collective memory.
International: The International Memory of the World Register recognises documentary heritage of global significance and includes documents such as the Magna Carta. It inspires both nations and regions to identify, list and preserve their respective documentary heritage for the collective memory of humankind.

Memory of the World Chapters

The development of people’s political, social and cultural rights in the UK has taken generations of conflict, campaigning and protest. Recognised on the UK UNESCO Memory of the World Register are some of the milestone documents relating to the development of these rights. This includes the Magna Carta issued in 1215 which limited the divine right of kings, through to the Bill of Rights in 1689 which effectively made the UK’s political system what it is today. These rights have been brutally hard-won as inscriptions including the Peterloo Massacre Relief Books and the papers relating to the Women’s Suffrage Movement show.

UNESCO Memory of the World Inscriptions in the UK

The British Antarctic Survey

The series of base and field reports and photographs forms the backbone of the archive collections of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and its predecessors…

The Carmichael Watson Collection: A Celtic Collector’s Folklore Odyssey

The Carmichael Watson collection in Edinburgh University Library, centred on the voluminous papers of the pioneering folklorist Alexander Carmichael (1832–1912) is, in terms of extent, scope, quality…

The Chronicle of Elis Grufudd, ‘Soldier of Calais’

The Chronicle of Elis Gruffudd was written in Welsh, c. 1550-52, by a soldier and administrator serving in the English garrison at Calais.

The Commonwealth War Graves

The CWGC Casualty archive consists of over 300,000 documents which record the details and commemoration location of each casualty the Commission is responsible for commemorating, some 1.

The Correspondence of Robert Owen 1821-1858

These are the letters of the Robert Owen (1821-1858) who was key in developing the ideas of the worldwide co-operative movement, which today boasts over 860 million members.

The Cotton Collection of Manuscripts

Sir Robert Cotton (1571–1631) was a politician and antiquarian scholar, who began to assemble his collection of manuscripts as early as 1588, aged just seventeen.

The Crutchley Archive

The Crutchley Archive is a rare and magnificent collection of books recording the skilled practice of wool dyeing of an eighteenth-century family dyeing business in Southwark, London.

The Declaration of Arbroath

Widely seen as Scotland’s most iconic document, The Declaration’s stirring language, and evocative sentiments of nationhood and freedom, have given it a special distinction over the centuries…

The Gertrude Bell Archive

The Gertrude Bell archive gives a unique perspective of the late 19th and early 20th century, as it preserves numerous examples of people and places across the world that are now dramatically changed:

The Golden Letter of the Burmese King

In 1756 Myanmar king Alaungmintaya sent a diplomatic letter to King George II of Great Britain. This is not your run-of-the-mill, ink-on-paper dispatch.