Latest news with #historicaldocument
Gizmodo
16-05-2025
- General
- Gizmodo
Harvard Paid $26 for ‘Cheap Copy' of Magna Carta—Turns Out It's an Original Worth Millions
Harvard had an Antiques Roadshow moment when a professor discovered that an original copy of the Magna Carta was worth millions. In 1946, Harvard purchased what they believed to be a cheap copy of Magna Carta for $25.70. It turned out to be a screaming deal, because the document is actually a rare early 14th-century edition estimated to be worth millions. The document was buried in the Harvard Law School Library's archives until 2023, when David Carpenter, professor of medieval history at King's College London, identified it while perusing the library's website. In a statement from Harvard Law School, Carpenter described the document as 'a remarkable testament to a fundamental stage in England's political development' and as 'one of the world's most valuable documents.' Carpenter was studying unofficial copies of Magna Carta when he made a surprising discovery. Labeled as HLS MS 172 in Harvard Law School Library's digital archives, the document was described as a copy of the 1327 Magna Carta 'somewhat rubbed and damp-stained.' Carpenter immediately realized that the alleged copy might actually be an official copy. He enlisted the help of Nicholas Vincent, a professor of medieval studies at the University of East Anglia, to verify the document's authenticity. The researchers used images taken by Harvard librarians with ultraviolet light and spectral imaging to compare the text of HLS MS 172 with other original copies of Magna Carta from 1300. Carpenter and Vincent's research revealed that HLS MS 172's dimensions were consistent with those found in the original copies. The handwriting was also similar, with the large capital 'E' at the start in 'Edwardus' and the elongated letters in the first line. Magna Carta, originally penned by King John in 1215, was the first document to put into writing the principle that monarchs were not above the law. It is widely considered to be a foundational symbol of liberty and one of the earliest declarations of human rights. The document has influenced many constitutions, including that of the United States. And as far as official copies of Magna Carta go, the rediscovered document is particularly special. Five other editions were written after the original in 1215. HLS MS 172 is a copy of the last edition to be authorized with the king's seal by King Edward I, in 1300. There are only six other official copies of the 1300 version known to still be in existence. Its discovery is especially poignant as Harvard faces funding cuts and intense political pressure. 'The provenance of this document is just fantastic. Given where it is, given present problems over liberties, over the sense of constitutional tradition in America, you couldn't invent a provenance that was more wonderful than this,' Carpenter said in a statement.
New York Times
15-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
Harvard Paid $27 for a Copy of Magna Carta. Surprise! It's an Original.
Bought for $27.50 after World War II, the faint, water stained manuscript in the library of Harvard Law School had attracted relatively little attention since it arrived there in 1946. That is about to change. Two British academics, one of whom happened on the manuscript by chance, have discovered that it is an original 1300 version — not a copy, as long thought — of Magna Carta, the medieval document that helped establish some of the world's most cherished liberties. It is one of just seven such documents from that date still in existence. 'I never in all my life expected to discover a Magna Carta,' said David Carpenter, a professor of medieval history at King's College London, describing the moment in December 2023 when he made the startling find. The manuscript's value is hard to estimate, although it is fair to say that its price tag of under $30 (about $500 today) must make it one of the bargains of the last century. A 710-year-old version of Magna Carta was sold in 2007 for $21.3 million. Nicholas Vincent, a professor of medieval history at the University of East Anglia, in eastern England, helped authenticate the text. He noted that the document, which bound the nation's rulers to acting within the law, had resurfaced at a time when Harvard has come under extraordinary pressure from the Trump administration. 'In this particular instance we are dealing with an institution that is under direct attack from the state itself, so it's almost providential it has turned up where it has at this particular time,' he said. 'You and I both know what that is!' Providential or not, the discovery happened largely by chance. Professor Carpenter was at home in Blackheath, south east London, plowing his way through Harvard Law School's digital images as research for a book when he opened a file named HLS MS 172 — the catalog name for Harvard Law School Manuscript 172. 'I get down to 172 and it's a single parchment sheet of Magna Carta,' he said. 'And I think 'Oh my god, this looks to me for all the world — because I read it — like an original.'' Professor Carpenter emailed Professor Vincent, who was, at the time, at work in a library in Brussels. '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 academics were able to confirm the manuscript's authenticity after Harvard Law School photographed it under ultraviolet light and then subjected it to various levels of spectral imaging, a technique which can enhance aspects of historical documents undetectable to the human eye. Comparing it with six previously known originals from 1300, the professors found that the text matched, as did the dimensions — 489 mm x 473mm. The handwriting used in the manuscript, with a large capital 'E' at the start in 'Edwardus' and elongated letters in the first line, also tallied. 'It's the best sort of thing that can happen to a librarian,' said Amanda Watson, assistant dean at Harvard Law School's library. 'This is our daily work to digitalize things, to preserve things, to save things, to open things up for people like David Carpenter.' Ms. Watson said that the document itself had sometimes been put on display, but, as part of a large collection, it was not kept out permanently. The library has yet to decide whether it will now be made available to the public, but Ms. Watson said she 'can't imagine' that it would be sold. 'In the United States having things that are seven hundred years old is special,' added Jonathan Zittrain, professor of international law and chair of the Harvard Law School library. 'The law of the land' Magna Carta — 'Great Charter' in Latin — has been used to justify many different causes over the centuries, sometimes on shaky historical ground. But it has evolved into a global symbol of the importance of fundamental freedoms, including habeas corpus. By limiting the power of the monarch, it came to represent the right to protection against arbitrary and unjust rule. One of its most famous passages states: 'No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.' First issued in 1215, it put into writing a set of concessions won by rebellious barons from a recalcitrant King John of England — or Bad King John, as he became known in folklore. He later revoked the charter, but his son, Henry III, issued amended versions, the last one in 1225, and Henry's son, Edward I, in turn confirmed the 1225 version in 1297 and again in 1300. The document influenced the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights includes several provisions that are thought to descend from Magna Carta. There are 25 original manuscripts of Magna Carta in all, produced at various times. Including the one at Harvard, only three are outside Britain. Harvard Law School bought its version from a London legal book dealer, Sweet & Maxwell, which had in turn purchased the manuscript in December 1945 from Sotheby's, the auctioneers. In the 1945 auction catalog it was listed as a copy and with the wrong date (1327) and was sold for £42 — about a fifth of the average annual income in the United Kingdom at the time — on behalf of Forster Maynard, an Air Vice-Marshal who had served as a fighter pilot in World War I. Air Vice-Marshal Maynard inherited it from the family of Thomas and John Clarkson, who were leading campaigners in Britain against the slave trade from the 1780s onward. Professor Vincent believes the document could be a lost Magna Carta that was once issued to the former parliamentary borough of Appleby-in-Westmorland, in the north of England, and which was last mentioned in print in 1762. While it is undoubtedly famous, many Britons seem to have a hazy knowledge of the document. Former prime minister David Cameron was famously unable to translate the term Magna Carta when asked by David Letterman on his late-night talk show in 2012. But few doubt its significance in the evolution of Western notions of rights and freedoms. With some of those now more under threat, Professor Vincent said the discovery at Harvard was timely. Magna Carta, he said, places the king under the rule of law. The 'head of state cannot simply go against somebody because he doesn't like them, he has to do it using the law,' he said. The text of the charter is incorporated within 17 state constitutions of the United States, he added, 'so there is more of it in American state law than there is in the U.K.' Professor Vincent likened the discovery to happening upon a masterpiece by Johannes Vermeer, the Dutch artist, only 36 of whose paintings are known to have survived. 'He is regarded as the rarest of all the great masters, so there are significantly fewer of these than there are of Vermeers,' Professor Vincent said. Both he and Professor Carpenter plan to visit Harvard Law School next month to see and touch the document for the first time, a moment that Professor Vincent predicted would be 'emotional.'
South China Morning Post
15-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Harvard thought it had cheap copy of the Magna Carta – it turned out to be extremely rare
Harvard University for decades assumed it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta in its collection, a stained and faded document it had bought for less than US$30. But two researchers have concluded it has something much more valuable – a rare version from 1300 issued by England's King Edward I. The original Magna Carta established in 1215 the principle that the king is subject to law, and it has formed the basis of constitutions globally. There are four copies of the original and, until now, there were believed to be only six copies of the 1300 version. 'My reaction was one of amazement and, in a way, awe that I should have managed to find a previously unknown Magna Carta,' said David Carpenter, a professor of medieval history at King's College London. He was searching the Harvard Law School Library website in December 2023 when he found the digitised document. 'First, I'd found one of the most rare documents and most significant documents in world constitutional history,' Carpenter said. 'But secondly, of course, it was astonishment that Harvard had been sitting on it for all these years without realising what it was.' Carpenter teamed up with Nicholas Vincent, a professor of medieval history at Britain's University of East Anglia, to confirm the authenticity of Harvard's document.
Globe and Mail
15-05-2025
- General
- Globe and Mail
Harvard thought it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta. It turned out to be extremely rare
Harvard University for decades assumed it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta in its collection, a stained and faded document it had purchased for less than $30. But two researchers have concluded it has something much more valuable – a rare version from 1300 issued by Britain's King Edward I. The original Magna Carta established in 1215 the principle that the king is subject to law, and it has formed the basis of constitutions globally. There are four copies of the original and, until now, there were believed to be only six copies of the 1300 version. 'My reaction was one of amazement and, in a way, awe that I should have managed to find a previously unknown Magna Carta,' said David Carpenter, a professor of medieval history at King's College London. He was searching the Harvard Law School Library website in December 2023 when he found the digitized document. 'First, I'd found one of the most rare documents and most significant documents in world constitutional history,' Carpenter said. 'But secondly, of course, it was astonishment that Harvard had been sitting on it for all these years without realizing what it was.' Carpenter teamed up with Nicholas Vincent, a professor of medieval history at Britain's University of East Anglia, to confirm the authenticity of Harvard's document. Comparing it to the other six copies from 1300, Carpenter found the dimensions matched up. He and Vincent then turned to images Harvard librarians created using ultraviolet light and spectral imaging. The technology helps scholars see details on faded documents that are not visible to the human eye. That allowed them to compare the texts word-for-word, as well as the handwriting, which include a large capital `E' at the start in `Edwardus' and elongated letters in the first line. After the 1215 original printed by King John, five other editions were written in the following decades – until 1300, the last time the full document was set out and authorized by the king's seal. The 1300 version of Magna Carta is 'different from the previous versions in a whole series of small ways and the changes are found in every single one,' Carpenter said. Harvard had to meet a high bar to prove authenticity, Carpenter said, and it did so 'with flying colors.' Its tattered and faded copy of the Magna Carta is worth millions of dollars, Carpenter estimated – though Harvard has no plans to sell it. A 1297 version of the Magna Carta sold at auction in 2007 for $21.3-million. The other mystery behind the document was the journey it took to Harvard. That task was left to Vincent, who was able to trace it all the way back to the former parliamentary borough of Appleby in Westmorland, England. The Harvard Law School library purchased its copy in 1946 from a London book dealer for $27.50. At the time, it was wrongly dated as being made in 1327. Vincent determined the document was sent to a British auction house in 1945 by a World War I flying ace who also played a role defending Malta in World War II. The war hero, Forster Maynard, inherited the archives from Thomas and John Clarkson, who were leading campaigners against the slave trade. One of them, Thomas Clarkson, became friends with William Lowther, hereditary lord of the manor of Appleby, and he possibly gave it to Clarkson. 'There's a chain of connection there, as it were, a smoking gun, but there isn't any clear proof as yet that this is the Appleby Magna Carta. But it seems to me very likely that it is,' Vincent said. He said he would like to find a letter or other documentation showing the Magna Carta was given to Thomas Clarkson. Vincent and Carpenter plan to visit Harvard in June to see its Magna Carta firsthand – and they say the document is as relevant as ever at a time when Harvard is clashing with the Trump administration over how much authority the federal government should have over its leadership, admissions and activism on campus. 'It turns up at Harvard at precisely the moment where Harvard is under attack as a private institution by a state authority that seems to want to tell Harvard what to do,' Vincent said. It also is a chance for a new generation to learn about the Magna Carta, which played a part in the founding of the United States – from the Declaration of Independence to the adoption of the Bill of Rights. Seventeen states have incorporated aspects of it into their laws. 'We think of law libraries as places where people can come and understand the underpinnings of democracy,' said Amanda Watson, the assistant dean for library and information services at Harvard Law School. 'To think that Magna Carta could inspire new generations of people to think about individual liberty and what that means and what self-governance means is very exciting.'
CTV News
15-05-2025
- Science
- CTV News
Harvard thought it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta. It turned out to be extremely rare
This photo provided by Harvard Law School shows a rare copy of the Magna Carta from 1300 sits in a display case on April 15, 2025, at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Mass. (Lorin Granger/Harvard Law School via AP) BOSTON — Harvard University for decades assumed it had a cheap copy of the Magna Carta in its collection, a stained and faded document it had purchased for less than US$30. But two researchers have concluded it has something much more valuable — a rare version from 1300 issued by Britain's King Edward I. The original Magna Carta established in 1215 the principle that the king is subject to law, and it has formed the basis of constitutions globally. There are four copies of the original and, until now, there were believed to be only six copies of the 1300 version. 'My reaction was one of amazement and, in a way, awe that I should have managed to find a previously unknown Magna Carta,' said David Carpenter, a professor of medieval history at King's College London. He was searching the Harvard Law School Library website in December 2023 when he found the digitized document. 'First, I'd found one of the most rare documents and most significant documents in world constitutional history,' Carpenter said. 'But secondly, of course, it was astonishment that Harvard had been sitting on it for all these years without realizing what it was.' Confirming the document's authenticity Carpenter teamed up with Nicholas Vincent, a professor of medieval history at Britain's University of East Anglia, to confirm the authenticity of Harvard's document. Comparing it to the other six copies from 1300, Carpenter found the dimensions matched up. He and Vincent then turned to images Harvard librarians created using ultraviolet light and spectral imaging. The technology helps scholars see details on faded documents that are not visible to the human eye. That allowed them to compare the texts word-for-word, as well as the handwriting, which include a large capital 'E' at the start in 'Edwardus' and elongated letters in the first line. After the 1215 original printed by King John, five other editions were written in the following decades — until 1300, the last time the full document was set out and authorized by the king's seal. The 1300 version of Magna Carta is 'different from the previous versions in a whole series of small ways and the changes are found in every single one,' Carpenter said. Harvard had to meet a high bar to prove authenticity, Carpenter said, and it did so 'with flying colors.' Its tattered and faded copy of the Magna Carta is worth millions of dollars, Carpenter estimated — though Harvard has no plans to sell it. A 1297 version of the Magna Carta sold at auction in 2007 for $21.3 million. A document with a colourful history The other mystery behind the document was the journey it took to Harvard. That task was left to Vincent, who was able to trace it all the way back to the former parliamentary borough of Appleby in Westmorland, England. The Harvard Law School library purchased its copy in 1946 from a London book dealer for $27.50. At the time, it was wrongly dated as being made in 1327. Vincent determined the document was sent to a British auction house in 1945 by a World War I flying ace who also played a role defending Malta in World War II. The war hero, Forster Maynard, inherited the archives from Thomas and John Clarkson, who were leading campaigners against the slave trade. One of them, Thomas Clarkson, became friends with William Lowther, hereditary lord of the manor of Appleby, and he possibly gave it to Clarkson. 'There's a chain of connection there, as it were, a smoking gun, but there isn't any clear proof as yet that this is the Appleby Magna Carta. But it seems to me very likely that it is,' Vincent said. He said he would like to find a letter or other documentation showing the Magna Carta was given to Thomas Clarkson. Making Magna Carta relevant for a new generation Vincent and Carpenter plan to visit Harvard in June to see its Magna Carta firsthand — and they say the document is as relevant as ever at a time when Harvard is clashing with the Trump administration over how much authority the federal government should have over its leadership, admissions and activism on campus. 'It turns up at Harvard at precisely the moment where Harvard is under attack as a private institution by a state authority that seems to want to tell Harvard what to do,' Vincent said. It also is a chance for a new generation to learn about the Magna Carta, which played a part in the founding of the United States — from the Declaration of Independence to the adoption of the Bill of Rights. Seventeen states have incorporated aspects of it into their laws. 'We think of law libraries as places where people can come and understand the underpinnings of democracy,' said Amanda Watson, the assistant dean for library and information services at Harvard Law School. 'To think that Magna Carta could inspire new generations of people to think about individual liberty and what that means and what self-governance means is very exciting.' Michael Casey, The Associated Press
