Magna Carta 'copy' bought for $27 turns out to be an original dating back more than 700 years
The Magna Carta, first signed over 800 years ago in 1215 by King John of England, is widely considered to be one of the most important documents in history, yet an original version was mistakenly identified as a copy nearly 80 years ago and was bought for just $27.
New historical studies are often made through recontextualizing existing understandings, and this can range from how pyramids were built in ancient Egypt to the discovery of ancient hidden civilizations right underneath our noses.
Many of these are made possible through new technological advancements or fascinating new perspectives, but sometimes all it takes is for someone to look a bit closer and notice an obvious mistake.
That's exactly what happened with a recent revelation involving the Magna Carta, as one keen-eyed historian noticed that a version of the document listed as just a 'copy' in Harvard's Law School Library is actually an original, and dates back over 700 years old.
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As reported by the Independent, the miraculous find was made by Professor David Carpenter, who specializes in medieval history at Kings College London.
He found a digitized version of what has come to be known as the Harvard Magna Carta online while searching for unofficial copies of the document, and quickly suspected that he might have actually been looking at the real thing.
Following various tests made on the document, it was officially recognized that the once-considered 'copy' was indeed an official version of the iconic text, and was issued in 1300 by King Edward I.
Professor Nicholas Vincent of the University of East Anglia illustrates that this particular version was "the last time it was issued as a single sheet document under the king's seal as an official endorsement of the settlement of Magna Carta."
There are currently seven other surviving documentations of this 1300 issue, as multiple versions were sent out to counties across England, but it's still considered an astonishing find that's widely celebrated within the historical world.
"Harvard's Magna Carta deserves celebration," proclaimed Professor Carpenter, "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."
If you're wondering how it came to be misrepresented as a copy though, Professor Vincent thinks that it was likely an error made by fine art broker Sotheby's, who sold the document to book dealer Sweet & Maxwell, who then sold it on to Harvard Law School afterwards.
"I think everyone was knackered at the end of the Second World War," Professor Vincent explains, adding that "I think whoever read it at Sotheby's and look at it, I suspect what they though was 'Oh it can't be an original Magna Carta because we'd know about it'. They misread the date, they got the wrong king.
"For an amateur that's a fairly easy mistake to make. But, as a result, the fact that it was an original was completely ignored and it went for a fairly derisory price."
Indeed it did, as Harvard purchased the document for just $27.50 in 1946, which is the equivalent of around $452.40 today, and far below the price an official version of the Magna Carta would command.