Overview

• British historians David Carpenter and Nicholas Vincent authenticated the manuscript using ultraviolet imaging and text comparison, confirming it as a 1300 Magna Carta issued under King Edward I.
• The Harvard Law School Library acquired the document from London book dealers Sweet & Maxwell in 1946, who had purchased it at a Sotheby’s auction where it was misdated as 1327 and catalogued as a copy.
• The Magna Carta, first issued in 1215, is a cornerstone of constitutional history, establishing the principle that rulers are subject to the law.
• Harvard’s copy is one of only seven known surviving originals of the 1300 issue, with its value estimated in the millions, though the university has no plans to sell it.
• The manuscript is believed to have originated in Appleby, Westmorland, England, and will be displayed at Harvard Law School, with the two professors visiting in June to commemorate the discovery.