Harvard scores, bigly.
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May 15th, 2025 at 11:06:55 AM
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In 1945, a Royal Air Force pilot sold a bookseller in London what he called an early copy of the Magna Carta. The seller paid forty-two pounds for it, and a week or so later sold it to a researcher from Harvard for forty-seven pounds.
It was recorded into the Harvard Archives and sat there for eighty years. Last year, a scholar researching early copies was allowed to examine it and noticed several differences with all the known early copies.
When the Magna Carta was signed, forty handwritten copies were given to the signees. Copies were then made and distributed throughout England. Only four of the original copies and a couple of dozen early editions were thought to exist.
Extensive research on the document in Harvard's library has concluded the forty-seven purchase is actually a priceless original copy of the world's most valuable document.
It was recorded into the Harvard Archives and sat there for eighty years. Last year, a scholar researching early copies was allowed to examine it and noticed several differences with all the known early copies.
When the Magna Carta was signed, forty handwritten copies were given to the signees. Copies were then made and distributed throughout England. Only four of the original copies and a couple of dozen early editions were thought to exist.
Extensive research on the document in Harvard's library has concluded the forty-seven purchase is actually a priceless original copy of the world's most valuable document.
The older I get, the better I recall things that never happened
