It is widely recognized that the Constitution of May 3 is the first in Europe and the second in the world formal constitution which is written in the form of a single legal act. Moreover, it is the first constitution that has not survived to this day. It was in force during the years 1791-1793 and collapsed as a result of the lost war of the First Republic of Poland with Russia and the Second Partition of Poland. The handwritten original of the Constitution of May 3 was initially kept in Wilanów in the collection of the Potocki Public Archives. In the 1870s, under family agreements, the archive was transferred to Krzeszowice near Krakow, and after 1945 it returned to Warsaw and was placed in the Central Archives of Historical Records.