Magna Carta Celebration Continues

You've probably heard by now that this year marks the 800th anniversary of one of Anglo-American law's most treasured documents--the Magna Carta.  A special exhibit at the Library of Congress, featured in a previous post, proudly displayed one of the original copies.  Now, to accompany its ongoing celebratory exhibit, the British Library has created an outstanding digital presentation of original items on display, articles, videos, and more to enjoy online.  And closer to home, the latest issue of the New Yorker features an eye-opening article about the Magna Carta in its own times and in American legal tradition, "The Rule of History: Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, and the Hold of Time," by historian staff writer Jill Lepore.  Anyone interested in law, history, or our heritage of legal rights should check these out.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Magna Carta Anniversary

Although it never guaranteed liberties to all Englishmen and was actually reissued by later kings in many versions, the Magna Carta remains an icon in Anglo-American legal history for what it has come to represent--individual liberties, the rule of law, and a limitation on the power of rulers.

The original agreement at Runnymede, a meadow by the Thames River, was actually known as "The Articles of the Barons" and was sealed (not signed) by King John on June 15, 1215.  During this anniversary week, the librarians of the Law Library of Congress remind us of some of the realities of the occasion, along with revealing photos of crafted replicas of the King's great seal and the rope which attached the seal to the vellum document.

From November 6, 2014, through January 19, 2015, the Library of Congress will have on display one of the remaining four original copies (of the 40 issued at the time and sent out to the English counties) of the King John charter, on loan from its permanent home in Lincoln Cathedral, England.  It will be part of a special library exhibit honoring the 800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta next year.

You can read the Magna Carta at Yale Law Library's Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy, a wonderful source for key legal history documents from ancient times through the 21st Century. 

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Magna Carta Visit Extended

Thanks to the Icelandic volcano, a rare 1217 manuscript of the Magna Carta will remain on display at the Morgan Library & Museum in Midtown Manhattan through May 30. As explained by Dave Itzkoff at the New York Times ArtsBeat Blog earlier this week, the document from the Bodleian Library at Oxford University--one of only seventeen surviving manuscripts from the 13th century bearing the royal seal--was scheduled for a much shorter stay. However, airlines were not eager to carry it during the unpredictable flight situation caused by the volcanic ash. As a result, law students will still have an opportunity to see this inspirational document after exams and before it heads home to England.




Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat