A manuscript once thought to be an unofficial copy of the Magna Carta has now been confirmed by scholars to be an original.
In 1946, Harvard Law School purchased the manuscript for just $27.50, and it sat largely unnoticed in the library for decades, BBC reported. Now, two medieval history experts have identified it as a rare, long-lost original Magna Carta from the year 1300 during King Edward I's reign and potentially valued in the millions.
The document caught the attention of Professor David Carpenter from King's College London, who saw digitized images on the university's website and began analyzing them.
"This is a fantastic discovery," he said.
"It is the last Magna Carta … [and 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."
Magna Carta was first issued by King John in 1215 as a charter that guaranteed certain rights and freedoms to his subjects and made clear that the king was also bound by the law.
It is seen as an important step in the development of human rights and has influenced the creation of constitutions around the world.
The document was shared throughout the counties of England and reissued by different kings between 1215 and 1300. According to Professor Nicholas Vincent from the University of East Anglia, Norwich, "There may have been 200 originals." He helped Professor Carpenter confirm the authenticity and history of the Harvard manuscript.
Today, 25 of these original copies still exist from the various editions made between 1215 and 1300, with most kept in the U.K. Two are held at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and one is in Parliament House in Canberra, Australia.
After researching for a year, the professors believe the document came from Appleby, Cumbria. They think it was passed from the Lowther family, who owned land there, to Thomas Clarkson, a well-known abolitionist in the 1780s.
The document stayed in Clarkson's family and later went to the Maynard family. In late 1945, AVM Forster Maynard sold it at a Sotheby's auction, where a London bookseller bought it months before Harvard acquired it.
"It's easy to understand why it was miscataloged when it was sold … it's a long time ago. Everyone in 1945 was a bit tired. It's worth many, many, many, many times that," Vincent told The Guardian.
Because the document is faded in many spots, the academics didn't work directly from the original but used pictures taken with ultraviolet light and spectral imaging.
They found that the handwriting and size matched those of the six other known original Magna Carta copies from 1300.
They also carefully checked the text itself. Since the wording of Magna Carta changed over time, the words and their order had to be exactly the same as in the other 1300 originals.
"Congratulations to Professors Carpenter and Vincent on their fantastic discovery," said Amanda Watson, Harvard Law School's assistant dean for library and information services. "This work exemplifies what happens when magnificent collections, like Harvard Law Library's, are opened to brilliant scholars."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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