'Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy' opens at the British Library

Julian Harrison and HRH the Prince of Wales in front 
of the statue of Geoffrey de Mandeville 

Yesterday evening saw the triumphant opening of Magna Carta, Law, Liberty, Legacy at the British Library, by HRH the Prince of Wales. The exhibition is the biggest anywhere devoted to the history of a single document. It brings together an astonishing array of exhibits, in a way that is unlikely to be seen again – from King John’s thumb bone, to Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the American Declaration of Independence, to letters revealing Winston Churchill’s plan to gift Lincoln’s Magna Carta to the USA, as well (of course) as the British Library’s two 1215 Magna Cartas and examples of other thirteenth-century issues. (You can view the collection items here). 

Claire Breay and Julian Harrison show the Savernake hunting horn to HRH the Prince of Wales

Curated by Claire Breay and Julian Harrion, the exhibition was planned with advice from Nicholas Vincent and David Carpenter of the Magna Carta Project, with the support of the AHRC. Already it has received laudatory reviews in the Guardian and the Telegraph. 

Claire Breay introduces a replica of King John's effigy

Magna Cartas re-united at the British Library

Nick Vincent, Tessa Webber & David
Carpenter, with Chris Woods

On 4 February 2015, members of the Magna Carta Project joined British Library curators and conservators as well as other experts to examine the four surviving Magna Cartas of King John. This once-in-a-lifetime event came as part of a historic week, in which the Magna Cartas of 1215 held by the British Library and the Cathedrals of Lincoln and Salisbury were brought together, for the first time, in the British Library’s conservation centre. You can read more about the event on the British Library’s Medieval Manuscripts blog.

Tessa Webber & Nick Vincent, in Tessa's
office at Trinity College, Cambridge

In preparation, MCP Principal Investigator Nicholas Vincent had met with palaeography expert Dr Teresa Webber of Trinity College Cambridge to examine images of King John’s other surviving charters. The hope is to discover more about the working of John’s chancery and – if possible – to identify the scribes who wrote the Magna Cartas. (The Magna Carta Project is gathering all of the 250-odd original charters of King John  – some of these are already online, and can be viewed here.)

It soon became clear that the Magna Cartas still have many secrets to reveal – watch this space for further discoveries!

L-R: Julian Harrison (BL), David Carpenter (MCP), Tessa Webber (Cambridge), Emily Naish (Salisbury), Edward Probert (Chancellor of Salisbury), Chris Woods (conservator, Lincoln & Salisbury), Claire Breay (BL), Kristian Jensen (BL), Cordelia Rogerson (BL), Philippa Hoskin (Univ of Lincoln), Gavin Moorhead (BL), Louise Wilkinson (MCP)