The 1297 inspeximus copy of the Magna Carta on display is a single sheet of parchment, folded at the lower edge, with a red and cream wax seal. This is the seal depicts King Edward I seated on the throne. It is attached at the top and bottom by finely plaited red and green cords. Latin text is handwritten across the full width of the parchment in a single dark-coloured ink.

The document is almost square and measures 48 cm from top to bottom and 42cm from left to right, plus a further 42 to 43 mm fold at the lower edge. This Magna Carta was copied more than 700 years ago so it has signs of wear, fading and some staining.

The Magna Carta is presented in a large glass preservation case that is sitting at an angle within a large glass display case, surrounded on three sides by a timber structure. The following labels appearing either side of the glass display case provide information about the Magna Carta and read as follows:

Magna Carta (Latin for ‘Great Charter’) is celebrated as a founding document in the development of constitutional and parliamentary government.

The Magna Carta is a charter of liberties first granted in June 1215 by King John of England as a treaty of rights and concessions to end a baron-led revolt. From its articles emerged the concept that nobody, not even the king, is above the rule of law. Among other freedoms, the Magna Carta became the inspiration for establishing trial by jury, outlawing arbitrary detention, and rejecting taxation without representation.

Its principles have been incorporated into the common law of many nations and are embodied in such documents as the United States Declaration of Independence and Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Australia’s Constitution.

Less than two months after it was first granted, the Magna Carta was annulled. However, throughout the 13th century King John’s successors, including King Edward I in 1297, revised and reissued it during their own political crises. Very few 13th century copies of the Magna Carta are known to survive.

In 1952 Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced that the Australian Government had purchased a 1297 inspeximus issue of the Magna Carta for the nation. It had been discovered at King’s School in Somerset, England in the 1930s. The document was first placed on public display in Australia in 1961. It is one of only four known surviving copies of the 1297 charter, and one of only two held outside the United Kingdom.

The document is a single sheet of sheepskin parchment inscribed with iron-gall ink. King Edward I’s royal seal is attached by red and green braided silk cords.

Edward I (1272–1307),
Inspeximus issue of Magna Carta, 1297,
ink on parchment, wax resin, silk cord,
Parliament House Art Collections.