The Scrapbook Magna Carta

A 700 year old copy of the Magna Carta has been discovered in a scrapbook at a library in Kent, England.  Archivist Mark Bateson was looking for an ancient charter for the town of Sandwich when he stumbled across the document, a third of which is missing.

The original Magna Carta enshrined a 1215 agreement between King John and his barons.  The document is considered the original charter of English liberties, which grew and expanded over time.  The charter was reissued on several occasions, the last being in 1300 by Edward I (the bad king in Braveheart!) and the scrapbook copy is believed have been part of that last issuance.  It is one of only 24 copies of the Magna Carta known to exist.  This version was apparently stuck in the scrapbook by a Victorian official from the British Museum in the 19th century and then forgotten.