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The archives

On 4 September 2001, UNESCO included the archives of the Officina Plantiniana in its “Memory of the World” list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity. This recognition by UNESCO internationally establishes that this business and family archive is vital for the cultural history of humanity. Besides this archive, the museum also preserves items from families that are related to the Moretus family in one way or another.

The archives

On 4 September 2001, UNESCO included the archives of the Officina Plantiniana in its “Memory of the World” list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity. This recognition by UNESCO internationally establishes that this business and family archive is vital for the cultural history of humanity. Besides this archive, the museum also preserves items from families that are related to the Moretus family in one way or another.

The archive of Charles Moretus-Plantin

In 1950, Count Charles Moretus-Plantin, the mayor of Stabroek, left his extensive collection of family documents to the Museum Plantin-Moretus. This substantial family fund of a younger branch of the Moretus family constitutes a separate fund in the old archives, namely the “Fonds graaf Charles Moretus-Plantin”.

The Plantin-Moretus archive

The Plantin-Moretus archive contains documents from 1550 until 1865. It is a paper treasure trove and consists of 1,382 ledgers, 990 sheafs, 187 folio volumes and more than 1,385 parchments.

Archives of related families

The Museum Plantin-Moretus also preserves the family and business archives of relatives of the Moretus family from the seventeenth and eighteenth century. The museum preserves the archives of the following families: Schilders, Bosschaert-De Groot, De Labistraete, De Vlieghere-du Mont-Van Wijck and De Neuf and documents of the Goos, Lunden, Geelhand, Wellens, Wolschaten and Verdussen families.

Old languages, new languages

Plantijn publishes numerous language works and textbooks. Jan Moretus published the first explanatory dictionary of the Dutch language.

Science at full speed

The port city of Antwerp and Plantijn's publishing house are a crossroads for the exchange of knowledge.

About people, power and society

In order to strengthen their image, rulers spread images of joyful entrances, triumphs or trials.

Religious works

In the Plantinian printing industry, the presses serve the Catholic faith with countless editions of the Bible and books for worship.

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