Harvard thought it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta. It turned out to be extremely rare

Harvard University has assumed for decades that it has a cheap version of Magna Carta in its collection, a stained and miserable document that she bought for less than $ 30.

But researchers concluded that they have something more valuable – a rare copy of 1300 issued by King Edward Edward, British

The original Magna Carta established in 1215 the principle that the king is subject to the law, and it has formed the basis of the world’s constitutions. There are four copies of the original version, and so far, there were only six copies of the 1300 version.

“My reaction was my amazement, and somewhat, I should have been able to find the previously unknown Carta Magna,” said David Carpenter, a Middle Ages professor at King’s College London. He was looking at the Harvard University Law Library website in December 2023 when he found the digital document.

“First, I found one of the most rare documents and the most important documents in world constitutional history,” said Carptter. “But secondly, of course, it was surprising that Harvard was sitting on him throughout these years without realizing what it was.”

Confirm the health of the document

Carpenter collaborated with Nicholas Vincent, a professor of medieval history at the University of East Anglia, to confirm the health of the Harvard Document.

Compared to the other six copies of 1300, Carpenter found the identical dimensions. Then he and Vincent turned into pictures of Harvard Library created using UV light and spectral imaging. This technology helps scientists see details of the faded invisible documents of the human eye.

This allowed them to compare texts a word against a word, as well as handwriting, which includes the large capital “E” at the beginning in “Edwardus” and eglined messages in the first line.

After the original 1215 printed by King John, five other editions were written in the following decades – until 1300, the last time that a full document was determined by the King’s SEAL.

“Version of Magna Carta” is different from previous versions in a whole series of small roads and there are changes in each one. “

Carpenter said Harvard had to meet a high bar to prove originality, and he did this “in flying colors.”

Its fake and syndrome version of Magna Carta is millions of dollars, as Carpetter was estimated – although Harvard has no plans to sell it. The 1297 version of Magna Carta was sold at an auction in 2007 for $ 21.3 million.

A document with a colored history

Another ambiguity behind the document was the journey it took to Harvard.

This task was left for Vinci, who was able to track her throughout the way to the former parliamentary town in Applebi in Westmoreland, England.

Harvard’s Law Faculty Library has bought its copy in 1946 from a written dealer in London for $ 27.50. At the time, he was incorrectly historian that he was made in 1327.

Vincent decided that the document was sent to a British auction house in 1945 by a global war flying ACE, which also played a role in defending Malta in World War II. The war champion, Forster Mainard, inherited the archives from Thomas and John Clareson, who were leading activists against the slave trade. One of them, Thomas Clarkson, has become a friend of Lili Luther, the genetic Lord of the Apple Palace, and perhaps Clarkson gave her.

“There is a series of communication there, as it was, a smoking pistol, but there is no clear evidence that this is Appleby Magna Carta. But it seems to me that it is very likely to be it,” Vincent said. He said he wanted to find a letter or other documents showing that Magna Carta was given to Thomas Clarkson.

Magna Carta is related to a new generation

Vincent and Carpeting are planning to visit Harvard in June to see Magna Carta directly – and they say that the document is related as it was always at a time when Harvard University collided with the Trump administration about the extent of power that the federal government should have to lead, accept and activity on the campus.

“He appeared at Harvard University specifically at the moment Harvard is being attacked as a special institution by the state authority that seems to want to tell Harvard what to do,” Vincent said.

It is also an opportunity for a new generation to learn about Magna Carta, who played a role in establishing the United States – from declaring independence to adopting the law of rights. Seventeen states merged its aspects into its laws.

“We are thinking about law libraries as places where people can come and understand the foundations of democracy,” said Amanda Watson, Assistant Dean of Library and Information Services at Harvard Law College. “To believe that Magna Carta can inspire new generations of people to think about individual freedom and what this means and what autonomy means is very exciting.”