UK-Memory of the World-The Scientific and Mathematical Papers of Sir Isaac Newton

The scientific and mathematical papers of Sir Isaac Newton represent one of the most important archives of scientific and intellectual work on global phenomena and marks a key moment in the development of the ‘new science’ in the seventeenth century and the importance it placed on observation and an experimental approach to the study of nature. The papers document the development of Sir Isaac Newton’s thought on universal gravitation, calculus, and optics and reveal not discoveries fully formed through inspiration of a lone genius, but ideas worked out through painstaking experiments, calculations, correspondence and revisions. The inscription also includes personal notebooks, correspondence, the manuscript and annotated editions of Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica and a substantial and significant collection of alchemical, theological and administrative manuscripts.

Austria-Memory of the World-The Documents on the Semmering Railway from the Imperial & Royal Historical Museum of Austrian Railways

The Documents on the Semmering Railway from the Imperial & Royal Historical Museum of Austrian Railways are held at the Technisches Museum Wien. This inventory comprises 164 original documents dating from between 1844 and 1910. The archival material also bears an important testimony to the importance attached to technical innovations in the 19th century as well as the growing awareness that technical projects require meticulous documentation. Engineers’ notebooks, sketches, drawings, watercolours, lithographs and steel engravings all bear witness to the way in which this major construction site evolved in the mountain wilderness and how the railway line’s stunning viaducts and tunnels were built using the engineering resources available at the time. Design drawings for the locomotive competition (1851) and for the first series-built mountain locomotives are a tribute to the engineers’ pioneering achievements, particularly since the use of railways on steep gradients was a matter of highly controversial debate among international experts at the time. Panoramic vistas and photographic views highlight the challenging route and illustrate the fascination which the mountain railway clearly exerted on its first passengers as it wound its way through the ruggedly romantic landscape of the Semmering. Documents published on the occasion of the first major anniversaries (1879 and 1904) show that the Semmering Railway was perceived as a milestone in railway engineering early on.Given its route and its length the Semmering Railway is regarded as the world’s first mountain railways and, in 1998, it became the world’s first railway line to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

UNESCO Memory of the World List - UK , Magna Carta, issued in 1215

Magna Carta is one of the most celebrated documents in English history. It is often claimed to be the cornerstone of English liberty, law and democracy, and its legacy has been its enduring worldwide influence. The critical importance of the charter is that it imposed for the first time detailed written constraints on royal authority in the fields of taxation, feudal rights and justice, and it reasserted the power of customary practice to limit unjust and arbitrary behaviour by the king. It has become an icon for freedom and democracy throughout the world.

UUNESCO Memory of the World - Korea/Hunminjeongum Manuscript

The manuscript published in the ninth lunar month of 1446, contains the promulgation by Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Choson Dynasty (reigned 1418-1450), of the Korean alphabet of the same name, now called han-gul, the development of which he completed in 1443. It also contains the Haerye, or Commentaries, later explanations and examples by scholars of the Hall of Worthies, including Chong In-J'is So, or Postface. This edition is therefore often referred to as the Haerye Edition of Hunminjeongum or Hunmin Chongun. It is kept by the Kansong Art Museum.

UNESCO memory of the World - Germany/Song of the Nibelungs

The Nibelungenlied (the Song of the Nibelungs) is probably the most famous heroic poem in Middle High German. It is comparable with other world-famous epics such as the epic of Gilgamesh of Ancient Babylonia, the Mahabharata of Ancient India, or the Heike Monogatari in mediaeval Japan. It tells the story of dragon-slayer Siegfried from his childhood days and his marriage to Kriemhild to his murder and the subsequent story of Kriemhild's revenge, finally culminating in the extinction of the Burgundians or Nibelungs at the court of the Huns.

UNESCO Memory of the World - France/Bayeux Tapestry

Memory of the World

The Bayeux Tapestry is actually an embroidery. 
This work of art is the first manuscript of the collections held at the municipal library of the city of Bayeux, located in Normandy, France. 

The Tapestry is a historical account, but also an essential source of information on the way of life in the Middle Ages in general, and the 11th century in particular: it is therefore a documentary record which employs particular narrative techniques and makes use of symbolism, as do many literary and artistic works of the Romanesque period. It is a unique work: there is no other similar document to compare it with. It retains to this day an element of mystery, and several questions have not yet been fully answered. 

The truly exceptional character of the Tapestry also lies in its size: it is 68.80 metres long, 50 centimetres high, and weighs close to 350 kilograms (original cloth and lining). For this reason, it needs to be exhibited in a very specific way.