Harvard University discovers original Magna Carta hiding in plain sight
What was long thought to be a simple copy has been revealed as a rare 1300 original.
Letter writing handwriting
702's Bongani Bingwa is joined by UK correspondent Adam Gilchrist.
Listen below (skip to 1:57):
It's not an unusual occurrence for boffins at Harvard University to make ground-breaking discoveries - after all, that's what some of the smartest minds on the planet are tasked with doing, aren't they?
But this particular discovery has been sitting right under their noses for years!
What the prestigious school had believed for decades to be a copy of the Magna Carta has turned out to be the real deal.
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"They bought it for $27 after the Second World War..."
- Adam Gilchrist
"It's turned out not to be a cheap, stained and used copy, but the real thing."
- Adam Gilchrist
When historian David Carpenter stumbled across it, in a Harvard digital archive, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
Carpenter said it had been labelled as a 1327 copy of the famous charter of rights, but he soon realised it was bona fide.
"It has formed the basis of Constitutions around the world, guaranteeing the liberties and rights of the subjects of King John in 1215."
- Adam Gilchrist
Gilchrist explains that the original Magna Carta is one of many.
"It was done in the times pre-printing, you couldn't just reel another one off - it all had to be hand-done and then hand-signed. So, this was a version of the Magna Carta signed by King Edward I in 1300."
- Adam Gilchrist
And, says Gilchrist, it's certainly worth more than the $27 the world-famous Ivy League school paid for it (even taking inflation into account)!
"[It's] worth millions, well, gazillions!"
- Adam Gilchrist
Scroll up to the audio player to hear other stories making headlines in The World View with Adam Gilchrist.
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