Matrix Croatica started its campaign to officially collect oral poetry in 1877 following the release of the Call for the collection of Croatian folk songs. On that occasion the institution also published a set of five rules which the recorders were expected to follow when recording oral poetry. This allowed for easier transcription and better understanding of the songs. The campaign resulted in the release of Matrix Croaticaʼs anthology Croatian folk songs. The anthology consists of ten books which were published from 1896 to 1942. The First, Second, Third, Fourth, Eight and the Ninth book contain heroic folk songs, while the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and the Eight book contain female folk songs. The manuscripts of three anthologies are kept at the Department of Ethnology at the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts: The Matrix Croatica Anthology, The Old Anthology and The New Anthology. The Matrix Croatica Anthology contains folk songs which were collected in mid to late 19th century. Parts of it were also published in the Matrix Croaticaʼs anthology Croatian folk songs. The Old Anthology contains all the texts collected from 1890 to 1945, while the texts collected from the mid-20th until the 21st century were included in The New Anthology. The Matrix Croaticaʼs manuscripts and the printed anthologies bestowed by the institution onto the future generations are one of the finest instances of oral poetry in Europe.