Historical Documents

A Revolutionary War pension and bounty land warrant application submitted by James Lambert

Can You Read This Cursive Handwriting? The National Archives Wants Your Help

Anyone with an internet connection can volunteer to transcribe historical documents and help make the archives' digital catalog more accessible

People suspected of collaborating with the Nazis were rounded up after American troops liberated the Dutch town of Nijmegen at the end of World War II.

The Netherlands Has Published a List of 425,000 Suspected Nazi Collaborators

In the past, the names could only be viewed in person. But due to expiring access restrictions, they're now available to anyone with an internet connection

The silver amulet contained a thin foil scroll.

Archaeologists Say This Tiny Amulet Is the Oldest Evidence of Christianity Found North of the Alps

Discovered in central Germany, the 1,800-year-old silver artifact held a tiny scroll, which researchers have now deciphered using high-resolution scans

Charles de Gaulle talking to reporters in 1945

A Forgotten Collection of Charles de Gaulle's Personal Letters, Speeches and Manuscripts Has Been Discovered in a Safe

Most of the documents are heading to the auction block, where they could fetch more than $1 million. They were found in a bank vault owned by the French statesman's son

Pages from the diary of Yitskhok Rudashevski

The Discovery of a Jewish Teenager’s Holocaust Diary Reveals How Songs, Jokes and Stories Served as Cultural Resistance

Yitskhok Rudashevski documented his life while hiding from Nazis, as well as folklore told in his community that “must be collected and preserved as a treasure for the future”

Machiavelli's The Prince was written in 1513 and printed in 1532.

A Rare First-Edition Copy of Machiavelli’s Notorious Political Treatise 'The Prince' Heads to Auction

This copy of the 16th-century text is owned by a private collector. Until recently, historians weren't aware that it existed

This marble tablet weighs 115 pounds and measures two feet tall.

An Ancient Tablet Inscribed With Nine of the Ten Commandments From the Book of Exodus Is for Sale

The marble slab, which dates to between 300 and 500 C.E., is the oldest-known stone tablet inscribed with the Commandments. Nobody recognized its significance until decades after its discovery

Experts have found that the manuscript's paper and ink are consistent with the materials Chopin was using at the time.

You Can Listen to a Lost Chopin Waltz That Hasn't Been Heard for Nearly Two Centuries

The one-minute composition, which dates to the 1830s, was found on a piece of paper about the size of an index card at a museum in New York City

Green Tea, Leonora Carrington, 1942

Surrealism Is Turning 100. See the Dreamlike Paintings That Made the Movement So Revolutionary

A blockbuster exhibition in Paris is showcasing 500 artifacts and artworks in honor of the Surrealist Manifesto, which sparked a new artistic style that spread around the world

Brian Cleary poses with a newly published copy of Bram Stoker's "Gibbet Hill," illustrated by Irish artist Paul McKinley.

Amateur Historian Discovers Lost Story by 'Dracula' Author Bram Stoker Hiding in Plain Sight at a Dublin Library

History forgot about "Gibbet Hill" for more than a century—until a fan of the Gothic horror writer stumbled upon the haunting tale at the National Library of Ireland

Born in a one-room log cabin in Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln rose to the presidency in 1861.

Explore Abraham Lincoln's Life and Legacy Through Rare Copies of Historic Books and Documents

A new exhibition in New York City uses more than 200 texts and artifacts to contemplate Lincoln's rise to the nation's highest office

The 200-year-old message was found inside a glass salt bottle.

Students Stumble Upon a Message in a Bottle Written by a French Archaeologist 200 Years Ago

The mysterious missive was written by P.J. Féret, who conducted an archaeological dig at the same site in northern France in 1825

The previously unknown composition was discovered in the collections of Leipzig Municipal Libraries in Germany.

This Lost Mozart Composition Hasn't Been Heard for Centuries. Now, You Can Listen to It

More than 250 years after a teenage Mozart wrote "Serenade in C," a copy of the piece has surfaced in the collections of a German library

This rare copy of the Constitution was signed by then Secretary of Congress Charles Thomson.

This Forgotten Copy of the Constitution Discovered in a Filing Cabinet Could Sell for Millions

The historic text, which bears the signature of Secretary of Congress Charles Thomson, was one of 100 copies ordered on September 28, 1787

The exterior of the Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery in London. The controversial columns stood inside the ground-floor foyer.

Workers Find Mysterious Letter Hidden Inside a Concrete Column at London's National Gallery

John Sainsbury hoped the note would be found when the "unnecessary columns" were finally demolished

The 700-year-old text is in “exceptionally fine condition,” according to Sotheby’s.

Hebrew Bible From Medieval Spain Could Sell for $7 Million

After years of painstaking work, Rabbi Shem Tov Ibn Gaon finished the illustrated manuscript in 1312

The front of the postcard features a print of The Challenge (1844) by English artist Edwin Henry Landseer.

See a Mysterious Postcard That Was Delivered 121 Years Late

The handwritten note, which bears a 1903 postmark, recently arrived at a building society in Wales

Another rare example of Alan Turing's handwritten notes, which went to auction in 2015

British Government Places Export Ban on Alan Turing's World War II-Era Notebooks

The mathematician took careful notes while working on a portable voice encryption system in the mid-1940s

Some of the newspaper articles describe the buying and selling of enslaved people, while others offer rewards for the return of runaways.

Ancestry Releases Records of 183,000 Enslaved Individuals in America

The genealogy company has digitized and published 38,000 newspaper articles from between 1788 and 1867—before Black Americans were counted as citizens in the U.S. census

Sue Parfitt, 82, and Judy Bruce, 85, cracked the glass protecting the Magna Carta on the morning of May 10.

Climate Activists Chip the Case Protecting the Magna Carta

The two protesters, who are both in their 80s, held up a sign that read, "The government is breaking the law"

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