Harvard Finds Authentic 1300 Magna Carta

A document in Harvard Law School's library, long thought to be a copy, has been authenticated as an original 1300 Magna Carta issued by King Edward I, making it one of only seven surviving originals from that year. Purchased in 1946 for $27.50, the parchment went unrecognized until historians David Carpenter and Nicholas Vincent confirmed its origins through forensic analysis and spectral imaging. Experts traced its provenance to British families and abolitionist Thomas Clarkson before it arrived at Harvard. The Magna Carta, issued in 1215, established the principle that even monarchs are subject to the law and remains vital to constitutional law globally. The discovery raises the count of surviving Magna Carta originals from all versions to about 24 or 25 worldwide, mostly in the UK, with a few in the US and Australia. Experts estimate the document's value in the millions, highlighting the significance of archival research.