The Jikji

The Jikji simche yojeol, an anthology of Buddhist teachings compiled by the monk Baegun, was printed in July 1377 at Heungdeok temple near Cheongju. The colophon gives the date and place, making it the oldest metal-type book whose printing is dated with certainty. The second of its two volumes was bought in the late nineteenth century by the French diplomat Victor Collin de Plancy and has been at the National Library of France ever since, fuelling a recurring restitution claim. Inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World register in 2001.