Magna Carta in Harvard Law School Library collection determined to be an original 

A Magna Carta within the Harvard Law School Library collection has been determined to be an original manuscript from the year 1300. HLSL purchased the document in 1946 from a book dealer when all parties believed it was a copy.  

In 2023, Magna Carta historians Nicholas Vincent, Professor of Medieval History at the University of East Anglia, and David Carpenter, Professor of Medieval History at King’s College London, confirmed its provenance after Professor Vincent saw the digitized document on the HLS Library website.   

Note: At this time, the document is not available for in-person viewing due to preservation concerns. However, a  high-resolution digital copy is available online.   

Read the full Harvard Law Today article below.