Harvard Bought a Copy of the Magna Carta for $27 and It Could Be Real
Harvard Law School recently discovered a treasure that had been hiding in its library for decade. Two British academics say that a copy of the Magna Carta in the Ivy League university's possession is the real deal. The school bought the copy in 1946 from a London bookseller for $27.50 (approximately $485 when adjusted for inflation). But the scholars say this is an original manuscript dated to the year 1300, which would easily make this Antiques Roadshow-like find worth millions.
The last known sale of an original Magna Carta manuscript took place in December 2007, when a 1297 edition was sold at auction by Sotheby's for $21.3 million. It had previously been owned by Texas billionaire Ross Perot and was purchased by David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group. That particular copy was one of only four known 1297 versions in private hands and is now on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
Prior to Harvard's discovery, there were only 25 known surviving original copies of Magna Carta, with only three located outside of England. The manuscript sold in 2007 was the only one owned by a private individual and the only one located in the United States at that time. None were expected to be sold again—until now, a newly identified 1300 version has surfaced at Harvard, potentially altering that count.
The Magna Carta, which means 'Great Charter' in Latin, was first signed in 1215 as was a declaration of rights forced on England's King John by his barons, establishing the principle that no one is above the law. Though many of its clauses were specific to medieval feudal disputes, it introduced ideas like due process and limited government that influenced later legal systems. Its legacy shaped the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, particularly in protections for individual liberty and the rule of law. The Magna Carta went through six iterations before the last original manuscripts were published in 1300.
The manuscript in Harvard's possession was confirmed as authentic after spectral imaging revealed features matching six known 1300 originals, including identical text, dimensions, and distinctive handwriting details. 'I was trawling through all these online statute books trying to find unofficial copies of the Magna Carta…and I immediately thought, 'My God, this looks for all the world like an original of Edward I's confirmation of Magna Carta in 1300,' though, of course, appearances are deceptive,' David Carpenter, one of the two British academics behind the discovery and a professor of medieval history at King's College London, told The Guardian.
While researching for a book from his home in southeast London, Professor Carpenter made the discovery when he came across a file in Harvard Law School's digital archives. Carpenter then brought in a colleague, Nicholas Vincent, a professor of medieval history at the University of East Anglia, to help authenticate the manuscript. Vincent underscored in an interview with the New York Times that the document—which established that rulers must follow the law—reemerged just as Harvard University and other institutions of higher learning face intense pressure from the Trump administration.
'In this particular instance we are dealing with an institution that is under direct attack from the state itself,' Vincent told the NYT. 'So it's almost providential it has turned up where it has at this particular time.'
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