Disclaimer. Collectalia is not a legal, tax or insurance advice site. The information on this page is general and based on French legislation in force as of 09/11/2026: it may change, does not necessarily apply outside France and does not take your situation into account. Always have it checked by a notary, a lawyer, an accountant or your insurer before acting on it.
The essentials
- For archives or autograph letters, the signatory, the recipient, the date and the place identify each document.
- The medium, the seal and the original collection (the provenance) give a manuscript its interest and value.
- A transcription makes family archives readable and easy to find.
Archives and manuscripts: what to keep track of
Letters from an ancestor, writers’ autographs, notarial deeds, diplomas, old maps, newspapers: these papers tell a family story or the story of an era. They are fragile, look alike and quickly get mixed up. Without an inventory, you no longer know what a box contains or where the letter you are looking for is.
For each document, note its type, its author or signatory, its recipient, its date and place, its language and its number of pages. Add the medium, whether it bears a stamp or a seal, the collection it comes from and, where useful, a transcription.
What a document entry contains
| Field | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Type of document (letter, manuscript, deed, diploma, map, newspaper…) | Classify and find quickly. |
| Author / signatory, recipient | Identify the document and the people involved. |
| Date of the document, place, language | Place the document in time and space. |
| Number of pages / leaves, medium (paper, parchment, vellum) | Describe the physical object. |
| Autograph, stamp / seal | Flag what makes it rare and valuable. |
| Collection / provenance, archive reference | Trace the document’s origin and link it to a larger set. |
| Transcription | Read the document without handling it, find it by search. |
| Photos or scans, valuations | Keep a legible copy and track the value. |
Sub-categories separate letters and autographs, manuscripts, deeds and official documents, family archives, maps and plans, and old newspapers.
Authenticity, value and insurance
For a valuable autograph, an expert’s opinion and a document attesting authenticity count for a lot: note who issued it and when. The principles in our guide to the certificate of authenticity apply. Keep the history of dated valuations. For the insurer, an up-to-date list with scans of the important pieces lets you prove what you owned in the event of a claim.
Succession and inheritance
Family archives are often scattered at the time of a succession, because no one knows what they contain. An inventory with transcriptions and scans lets everyone keep a copy, even if the original goes to a single person. Note your wishes and, for questions of division, consult your notary (notaire); our estate inventory template helps you get organised. A significant collection may interest an archive service or an institution; see our page for foundations and museums.
Photos from your phone and sharing
Photograph each page flat, well lit, without glare, front and back, then the seals and signatures. For an opinion or a sale, share a selection with an expert or a bookseller through a read-only link, password-protected and time-limited.
With Collectalia
Collectalia keeps one entry per document: type, signatory, recipient, date, place, language, number of pages, medium, autograph, seal, collection and archive reference, transcription, photos taken from your phone by scanning a QR code, successive valuations and location (box, binder, drawer). Search finds a name or a place in the transcriptions. Import your existing Excel file, produce PDF or Excel reports and prepare your succession. Free trial, free read-only access.
Disclaimer. Collectalia is not a legal, tax or insurance advice site. The information on this page is general and based on French legislation in force as of 09/11/2026: it may change, does not necessarily apply outside France and does not take your situation into account. Always have it checked by a notary, a lawyer, an accountant or your insurer before acting on it.