No pictures of the Magna Carter allowed....which is what I was told when I took this shot. It looked like an old piece of paper with writing on it. Really unspectacular IMO. I'd hate to be the guy who authenticates pieces like that.
Other pics from the coin room.
The lower pic is a drawing by Delacroix. I know that, because I have one of Delacroix's drawings of
ancient coins and immediately recognised the
style and looked for its signature. Mine is about 4 inches square. It's somewhere in a box that I haven't excavated after my last house move. Easy to mislay one's Delacroixes.
Magna Carta [
sic] not
Carter. Indeed an old piece of paper with
writing on it as seen in the pic below. Rather like the Declaration of Independence, except 560 years older, sealed under oath by
King John at Runnymede, on the bank of the River Thames near Windsor,
England, on 15 June 1215. It deals with ideals of
democracy, limitation of power, equality and freedom under law. Much of it is
still current as law in
England, for example Clause 29 states "NO
Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of
his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other
wise destroyed;
nor will We not pass upon him,
nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of
his Peers, or by the Law of the land. We will sell to no
man, we will not deny or defer to any
man either Justice or Right". This and other clauses are
still current in law, used as-written in legal arguments and judgements today. It deserves our respect.
