The systematic collection of documents as museum holdings for the National Museum was emphasised in the Statute of the South Slav Historical and Archaeological Society from 1850. In the Statute the founder and head of the Society, the historian, politician and author Ivan Kukuljevic Sakcinski and other members of the Board laid down the aims and objective of collecting in a way which is useful in the practice of collecting and purchasing material for the Museum.

The documentary Collection of the Croatian History Museum has from that time to the present day collected through purchases and donations 3.350 documents. Apart from documents in the strict sense of the word, the Collection also holds photographs, picture-postcards, and greeting cards.

The First Documentary Collection