Three Precious Cultural Manuscript Collections from the 19th century facing disappearance

The Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences holds one of the earliest archives in Southern Europe. It collects hand-made registrations of unique cultural objects by description and visual documentation from across Bulgaria. Due to poor preservation, the documents risk disappearing.

The Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies, with the Ethnographic Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, has started many projects with the aim of making the collection suitable for a wider open-access use. The material considered in this project was hand-made registration of unique cultural objects by description and visual documentation. Geographically, the material covers the whole territory of Bulgaria and some of the neighbouring Balkan areas visited by the authors and collectors. Of the three collections digitised, the first, “Antiquities” is the only missing part of a huge cultural miscellany, partly already published, while the second and third contain unknown songs, proverbs, riddles, legends, and myths that will extend the empirical basis of ethnographic data throughout an extended pre-industrial period.

The collection dates from the 19th century and is slowly decaying. In the past, the collection was improperly preserved, which accelerated the ageing process.

The project digitised 1,416 documents across the three collections. The project created three surveys, describing the contents of the collections and sharing the details of the materials. The staff at the archive improved their digitisation skills and were able to research the material in great detail and learn more about the documents.

Project Details


Location: Bulgaria, Eastern Europe, Europe Organiser(s): Endangered Archives Programme (EAP) Project partner(s): Istitucion Educativa Femenina de Ensenanza Media Funder(s): Arcadia Funding received: £9,660 Commencement Date: 09/2017 Project Status: Completed
Project owner? Update this project



Related Projects

EAP1402 Pub003

19th-century documents from the Peruvian asylum el Manicomio del Cercado

The Victor Larco Herrera Hospital in the centre of Lima, Peru, was closed in 1917. Its archives, dating back to 1859, consist of medical documentation as well as administrativ…

Explore project
EAP1306 Silk Museum

The Caucasian Silk Circle: Digitising Photo Collection of the State Silk Museum in Georgia

The State Silk Museum of Georgia holds the only documentary evidence of the practice of sericulture in the 19th century. Taken during expeditions of the Caucasian Sericulture …

Explore project
EAP1294 team

Safeguarding for Posterity Two Private Collections of Palm-Leaf Manuscripts from the Tamil Country

The Kalliṭaikuṟicci and Villiyampākkam collections are palm-leaf collections held privately in India. The collections are essential to study the prevalent reading practices in…

Explore project