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Harvard’s $27 Magna Carta copy turns out to be authentic

LONDON (NYT) — Bought for $27.50 after World War II, the faint, water stained manuscript in the library of Harvard Law School had attracted relatively little attention since it arrived there in 1946.

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That is about to change.

Two British academics, one of whom happened on the manuscript by chance, have discovered that it is an original 1300 version — not a copy, as long thought — of Magna Carta, the medieval document that helped establish some of the world’s most cherished liberties.

It is one of just seven such documents from that date still in existence.

The manuscript’s value is hard to estimate, although it is fair to say that its price tag of under $30 (about $500 today) must make it one of the bargains of the last century. A 710-year-old version of Magna Carta was sold in 2007 for $21.3 million.

Magna Carta — “Great Charter” in Latin — has been used to justify many different causes over the centuries, sometimes on shaky historical ground. But it has evolved into a global symbol of the importance of fundamental freedoms, including habeas corpus. By limiting the power of the monarch, it came to represent the right to protection against arbitrary and unjust rule.

One of its most famous passages states: “No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.”

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore vetoes reparations bill

(NYT) — Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland has vetoed legislation that sought to make recommendations on how to remedy the harms caused by slavery and racial discrimination, a notable setback in the movement for reparations delivered by the nation’s only sitting Black governor.

The move Friday sets Moore apart from other Democratic governors who have approved similar measures in recent years and comes as the party grapples with the role that identity politics played in its widespread electoral losses last year.

The bill would have created a commission to research how many Maryland residents have ancestors who were enslaved in the state and recommend reparations that could have included formal apologies, monetary compensation, property tax rebates, college tuition waivers or assistance buying a home, among other possibilities.

Calling it a “difficult decision,” Moore said he vetoed the bill because the state had sufficiently studied the legacy of slavery. “While I appreciate the work that went into this legislation, I strongly believe now is not the time for another study. Now is the time for continued action that delivers results for the people we serve.”

Moore said he wanted to work toward eliminating racial disparities in areas such as wealth, homeownership, education and food security, and would introduce legislation next year to address “barriers that have walled off Black families in Maryland.”

The bill was a priority for the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, which issued a scathing statement after the veto noting that their statehouse is “less than a mile from the Annapolis City Dock — one of the nation’s earliest and most high-traffic ports of enslavement.”