Last updated on 12 May 2026
The World Digital Library is a gift for all culture lovers and knowledge. A global digital library featuring thousands of priceless historical documents in high definition.
I am happy to start this year 2015 with this resource in which you can dive without restraint for hours. An excellent example of what digital technology can do for us. Who has not dreamed of having access to the thousands of treasures treasured in major libraries around the world? This is the idea behind this global digital library.
The Wdl, for Wolrld Digital Library, hosts more than 10,000 documents and images from the world's largest historical collections. Resources freely available for the consultation of all Internet users. A real happiness for all historians and lovers of knowledge.
The encyclopaedic project does not aim at the completeness or quantity of documents submitted but rather at quality. Irreproachable quality. All historical documents presented here have been scanned in high definition for optimal on-screen rendering.
This unique library allows you to search by date, time, country, continent, theme, and media type: map, image, parchment, book, film ….
To facilitate discovery, the Library’s homepage contains a map of the world and a chronological index. The content is organized by geographic region on the map. Each region is associated with a group of countries. Each region includes rare books, maps, manuscripts, photographs, engravings, sound recordings and films about the countries of the region.
Guided tours, thematic chronological friezes, latest additions, this resource offers you many entries to discover its collections. You can also use a classic search engine to perform a search. Each document has a complete sheet that provides a large amount of keywords and links to expand or refine your search.
When you look at the document, let’s get emotional. The stripped-down reading table will allow you to turn the pages, for example if it is a book. You can zoom in to get as close as possible to your document. You will of course be able to save an image or print it. You can also download it in PDF format.
The World Digital Library is available in seven languages. A great resource dedicated to knowledge and education. A nice gift for January 1, 2015.
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