Harvard’s law school library paid $27.50 in 1946 to acquire what was billed as a “somewhat rubbed and damp-stained” copy of the Magna Carta from 1327 to add to its robust collection of medieval texts.

A "copy" of the Magna Carta, the medieval English document that has formed the basis of constitutions around the world, owned by Harvard Law School is actually an exceedingly rare original, British researchers have said.