Two rare and fragile copies of the Magna Carta — the building block of Britain’s constitution — are to be restored to go on public display for the first time during next year’s 800th anniversary celebrations of its sealing.
The Bank of America Merrill Lynch is paying for the Society of Antiquaries in London to conserve two of its copies of the charter, which was sealed under oath by King John at the insistence of his barons at Runnymede near Windsor in 1215.
Only four original copies of the Magna Carta and 17 issues from the following decade or so survive. The society owns three of the latter.
Heather Rowland, the society’s head of library and collections, said the bank’s funding meant they would be able to mount a special exhibition at its headquarters in Burlington House, Piccadilly.
“We wouldn’t be able to do this otherwise. One copy in particular is in very poor condition,” she said.
The bank is also funding the digitisation of the charters so they can be made available online as a learning resource.
