It’s taken a long time, but a 715 year old document, the Magna Carta, has been repaired. It will now be on public display at the National Archives in Washington, DC. For the last several years, the Magna Carta has been undergoing restoration and repair efforts. It will be displayed in a metal case with specially made glass to control humidity.
There are only 17 known copies of the Magna Carta in existence today. Fifteen of them are in Britain and Australia holds another. This will be the only copy displayed in the United States. This original Magna Carta’s restoration costs were funded by David Rubenstein and it cost $13.5 million. Rubenstein has a personal interest in the document. He purchased it from Ross Perot in 2007 for $21.3 million. Rubenstein then gave it to the National Archives on loan.
Rubenstein is a history fanatic and he’s somewhat of an expert on the document. The document has King Edward I’s wax seal on the back of it. The document dates back to 1297. It was the law in Britain beginning in 1297. However, its legacy goes back to 1215. It would be responsible for what is now known as common law in the U.S. and Britain.
The Magna Carta is actually in better shape than the Declaration of Independence. That document is dated from 1776. The text is written in medieval Latin and it’s still dark enough to read. The Declaration of Independence is almost too faded to read. That’s because it was often exposed to significant sunlight as many shop owners put it up in their windows. The Magna Carta was not written on paper, but on a specially prepared animal skin called parchment.
The repairs included removing some of the adhesive and patches that were on it. Small tears and holes were fixed with paper that was made by hand in Korea and Japan. The paper was then colored to match the parchment. Wheat starch paste and gelatin were used to attach the new patches.
