Harvard's Magna Carta Document Identified as Original 1300 Reissue

Discovery of an Original Magna Carta

• 📜 A document owned by Harvard Law School, purchased in 1946 for $27.50, was initially believed to be a 1327 copy of the Magna Carta.
• 🔍 British researchers have now authenticated it as an original copy from King Edward I's 1300 reissue of the pivotal document.
• 💎 This makes it one of only seven surviving original copies from that specific reissue.

Authentication Process

• 🔬 Experts utilized ultraviolet light photography and spectral imaging to verify the document's authenticity.
• 📏 Comparisons with other known originals confirmed that Harvard's document perfectly matched the dimensions and text of the 1300 reissue.

Significance of the Magna Carta

• ⚖️ The Magna Carta, first signed by King John in 1215, established the rights of the English people and curbed the monarch's power.
• 🏛️ It was reissued with subsequent monarchs and enacted as law in 1297 by the British Parliament.
• 🌍 The document forms the basis for the constitutions of many nations.

Potential Value

• 💰 While Harvard has not yet assessed its current value, a different original Magna Carta from 1297 sold for $21.3 million in 2007.