- What was believed to be a replica of the Magna Carta turned out to be an original.
- The document was bought by Harvard Law School in 1946 for $27.50.
- There are 24 surviving originals of the various versions of the Magna Carta.
In 1946, Harvard Law School paid $27.50 for a replica of the Magna Carta — or so the school thought.
Turns out, the document, which was purchased for around $500 in today’s money, is actually an original version of the Magna Carta from 1300.
“This is a fantastic discovery,” said David Carpenter, who discovered the document was an original, per BBC.
“It deserves celebration, not as some mere copy, stained and faded, but as an original of one of the most significant documents in world constitutional history; a cornerstone of freedoms past, present and yet to be won,” said Carpenter.
How the document was discovered to be an original
In December 2023, Carpenter, who is a professor of medieval history at King’s College London, was at home doing research for a book and looking through Harvard Law School’s digital images.
“I finally came to Harvard Law School manuscript number 172, clicked on that, expecting to see a statute book. And what I saw … was an original of the 1300 Magna Carta,” Carpenter said, per CNN.
Carpenter then emailed Nicholas Vincent, a professor of medieval history at the University of East Anglia, in eastern England, sending him the image of the manuscript.
“David sent it with a message saying, ‘What do you think that is?’” said professor Vincent. “I wrote back within seconds, saying, ‘You and I both know what that is!’”
The two then worked to study the manuscript and authenticate it as an original from 1300.
How did Harvard end up with an original copy of the Magna Carta?
In 1946, Harvard Law School’s library bought the document through an auction from London bookseller Sweet & Maxwell for $27.50 (around $500 today). The manuscript was described in the auction catalogue as a “copy … made in 1327 … somewhat rubbed and damp-stained,” per CNN.
Sweet & Maxwell has purchased the document in December 1945 from Sotheby’s, the auctioneers. It was sold by Sotheby’s on behalf of Forster Maynard, who served as a fighter pilot in World War I. Maynard had inherited it from the family of Thomas and John Clarkson, who were leading campaigners in Britain against the slave trade.
Vincent and Carpenter studied and researched the document and believe it to be a lost Magna Carta that was issued to the former parliamentary borough of Appleby-in-Westmorland, in northern England. It was last mentioned in print in 1762.
“I would hesitate to suggest a figure, but the 1297 Magna Carta that sold at auction in New York in 2007 fetched $21 million (about £10.5m at the time), so we’re talking about a very large sum of money," said Vincent about the value of that Magna Carta, according to BBC.
How it was confirmed as an original
After making their discovery, Vincent and Carpenter worked to confirm the authenticity of the document. According to The New York Times, Harvard Law School photographed it under ultraviolet light and subjected it to a variety of levels of spectral imaging, which can enhance aspects of historical documents that the human eye cannot detect.
It was compared with six previously known originals from the same time, per BBC. The text matched those other originals, and the dimensions did as well. The handwriting used in the manuscript was also considered in the authentication.
What is the Magna Carta?
The Magna Carta, first issued by King John in 1215, guaranteed the rights and liberties of his subjects and also placed the king under the authority of the law, per BBC.
It dictates that the “head of state cannot simply go against somebody because he doesn’t like them, he has to do it using the law,” Vincent told The New York Times.
King John later revoked the charter, but it was reissued and amended by following kings. The 1300 version was issued by King Edward I.
The Magna Carta influenced the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights includes several provisions that descended from the charter.
It is “considered a key step in the evolution of human rights against oppressive rulers” and “it has influenced the framing of constitutions around the world,” per BBC.
As the document was reissued multiple times, there were many originals, and today there are 24 surviving originals of the various editions. Only three of the originals, including Harvard’s, are outside the U.K.