Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor
Exhibition Items
Magna Carta Comes to America
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King John in History and Memory
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Rebellion and the Great Charter
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Lincoln Magna Carta
- King John of England (reigned 1199–1216). 1215 Exemplar of Magna Carta. Great Charter of Liberties. Manuscript on parchment, June 1215. Loaned by kind permission of the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln Cathedral, England
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Confirmations by Kings and Parliament
- Magna Charta cum Statutis Angliae [Miniature Magna Carta with the Statutes of England]. Bound manuscript on vellum, fourteenth century. Law Library, Library of Congress (008)
- Statuta Vetera [Magna Carta and Other Statutes]. Bound manuscript, fourteenth century. Law Library, Library of Congress (009)
- King Edward I (reigned 1272–1307). Reissue of Magna Carta in Statutes of the Realm. Volume 1. London: G. Eyre and A. Strahan, 1810. Law Library, Library of Congress (010)
- Antiqua Statuta [First printed Magna Carta]. London: Pynson, 1508. Law Library, Library of Congress (012)
- Abbreviamentum Statutorum [Abridgment of Statutes]. London, 1481–1482. Law Library, Library of Congress (013)
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Interpreting the Rule of Law
- William Lambarde (1536–1601). Archaionomia [The Old Laws]. Cambridge: Roger Daniel, 1644. Law Library, Library of Congress (014)
- Edward Coke (1552–1634). Frontispiece and title page from The Second Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England. . . . London: Thomas Basset, 1681. Thomas Jefferson Library Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (015)
- Edward Coke (1552–1634). The Second Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England. . . . London: Thomas Basset, 1681. Thomas Jefferson Library Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (016)
- Edward Coke, John Selden, Dudley Digges, and Thomas Littleton. A Conference Desired by the Lords and Had by a Committee of Both Houses. London: M. Walbancke and R. Best, 1642. Law Library, Library of Congress (017)
- William Prynne (1600–1669). The Petition of Right of the Free-holders and Free-men of the Kingdom of England. . . . London, 1648. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (018)
- Henry Care (1646–1688). English Liberties, or, the Free-born Subject’s Inheritance. . . . Boston: J. Franklin, 1721. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (019)
- English Bill of Rights in Anno Regni Gulielmi et Mariae, Regis & Reginae, Scotiae, Franciae [et] Hiberniae, primo. . . . London: Charles Bill and Thomas Newcomb, 1689. Law Library, Library of Congress (020)
- William Blackstone (1723–1780). The Great Charter and Charter of the Forest, with Other Authentic Instruments: To Which Is Prefixed an Introductory Discourse, Containing the History of the Charters. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1759. Law Library, Library of Congress (021)
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Rights of Englishmen in British America
- Charter of Virginia, 1606 in the Records of the Virginia Company. Thomas Jefferson Library Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (022.00.01)
- The General Laws and Liberties of the Massachusets [sic] Colony, by Order of the General Court, Holden at Boston, May 15th, 1672, Edward Rawson, Secr. Cambridge: Samuel Green, 1672. Law Library, Library of Congress (023)
- The Laws of the Province of South-Carolina, in Two Parts. . . . Charles-Town, South Carolina: Lewis Timothy, 1736. Law Library, Library of Congress (024)
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No Taxation Without Representation
- William Samuel Johnson (1727–1819). “Declaration of Rights and Grievances,” October 19, 1765. William Samuel Johnson Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (025)
- 1765 Stamp Act Congress, New York in Proceedings of the Congress at New-York. Annapolis [Md.]: Jonas Green, 1766. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (026)
- Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser, October 24, 1765. Serial and Government Publications Division, Library of Congress (027)
- The Patriotic American Farmer J-n D-k-ns-n Esqr. Barrister at Law [John Dickinson]. Engraving, between 1870–1880. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (028)
- The Repeal or the Funeral of Miss Ame-Stamp [1766]. Etching. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (029)
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Magna Carta and the U.S. Constitution
- Journal of the Proceedings of the Congress, Held at Philadelphia, September 5, 1774. Philadelphia: William and Thomas Bradford, 1774. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (031)
- The Constitutions of the Several Independent States of America, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation between the Said States. . . . London: J. Stockdale, 1782. Law Library, Library of Congress (032)
- Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser (Boston), November 7, 1776 [with reprint of Pennsylvania Constitution from the Pennsylvania Journal, October 9, 1776]. Serial and Government Publications Division, Library of Congress (033)
- [Alexander Hamilton (1755–1804)]. No. 84 in The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, As Agreed upon by the Federal Convention, September 17, 1787, Vol. 2. New York: J. and A. M’Lean, 1788. Thomas Jefferson’s Library, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (034)
- Proposed Articles of Amendment to the Federal Constitution [Bill of Rights]. [James Madison’s personal copy of printed broadside]. New York: Thomas Greenleaf, September 14, 1789. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (035)
- Draft United States Constitution: Report of the Committee of Style, September 8–12, 1787. Printed document with annotations by George Washington and Convention Secretary William Jackson. George Washington Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (068, 068.00.01)
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Due Process of Law
- Due Process Statute in Statuta Nova, 1 Ed. III to 21 Richard II, 1354. Bound manuscript on vellum, fifteenth century. Law Library, Library of Congress (011)
- Edward Coke (1552–1634). “Dr. Bonham’s Case” in Coke’s Reports, Part 8. London: Society of Stationers, 1611. Law Library, Library of Congress (074)
- John Armor Bingham (1815–1900). Photographic portrait of John Bingham, between 1860 and 1875. Reproduction. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (036)
- John Armor Bingham. One Country, One Constitution, and One People [speech of Hon. John A. Bingham, of Ohio, in the House of Representatives]. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Globe Office, 1866. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (037)
- Stephen J. Field. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution Considered: The Right to Pursue Any Lawful Trade or Avocation, Without Other Restraint. . . . :Dissenting Opinions . . . of U.S. Supreme Court, in the New Orleans Slaughter-House Cases. [Washington, D.C.]: Chas. W. Gordon, 1873. Daniel A. P. Murray Pamphlet Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (075)
- Earl Warren (1891–1974). Notes concerning Miranda v. Arizona, 1966. Typescript pages with handwritten notes. Earl Warren Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (044,044.00.01)
- Herbert Block (Herblock) (1909–2001). “You May or May Not Have the Right to Remain Silent, Depending on Whether the Supreme Court Decides that Nothing It Has Already Said May Be Held against It,” published in the Washington Post, December 8, 1999. Graphite, crayon, porous point pen, India ink, and opaque white over blue pencil underdrawing, with overlays. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress © Herblock, 1999. Image reproduced courtesy of the Herblock Foundation (069)
- Thurgood Marshall (1908–1993). Speech concerning the bicentennial of the United States Constitution, April 2, 1987. Draft typescript. Thurgood Marshall Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (070, 070.00.01)
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Trial by Jury
- Medieval jury depicted in Grand Coutumier de Normandie [Customary Law of Normandy]. Illustrated manuscript on vellum, ca. 1450–1470. Law Library, Library of Congress (039)
- John Lilburne (1614?–1657). The Tryal of Lieutenant Colonel John Lilburn. . . . the 24th, 25th, and 26th of October, 1649. London: H. Hills, 1710. Law Library, Library of Congress (040)
- William Penn (1644–1718). Peoples Antient and Just Liberties Asserted in the Tryal of William Penn and William Mead. London, 1670. Law Library, Library of Congress (041)
- The Tryal of John Peter Zenger, of New-York, Printer, Who Was Lately Try’d and Acquitted for Printing and Publishing a Libel against the Government: With the Pleadings and Arguments on Both Sides. London: Printed for J. Wilford, 1738. Law Library, Library of Congress (042)
- United States Supreme Court. Duncan v. Louisiana (1968). Printed document with handwritten notes. Byron R. White Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (043)
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Writ of Habeas Corpus
- Habeas Corpus Act of 1679. London: John Bill, Henry Hills, and Thomas Newcomb, 1681. Law Library, Library of Congress (077)
- The Merryman Habeas Corpus Case. Baltimore and Jackson, Mississippi: J. L. Power, 1861. Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (046)
- Headquarters Western Defense Command and Fourth Army. Civilian Exclusion Order No. 41. Presidio of San Francisco, California, May 5, 1942. Law Library, Library of Congress (047)
- Ansel Adams (1902–1984). Mess Line, Noon, Manzanar Relocation Center, California [Japanese internment camp], 1943. Photographic reproduction. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (048)
- Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) to Robert H. Jackson (1892–1954), October 27, 1944. Typed letter. Robert Jackson Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (049)
- Dissenting opinion by Justice Robert Jackson in Korematsu v. United States. Supreme Court Decision, No. 22, December 18, 1944. Law Library, Library of Congress (050)
- United States Supreme Court. Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 (2008). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2012. Law Library, Library of Congress (051)
- Tony Auth (1942–2014). In the War on Terror, Sometimes Sacrifice is Necessary. Published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, November 13, 2001. Ink, porous point pen, and blue pencil drawing. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (053)
- “Justices Back Detainee Access to U.S. Courts/Court Says Detainees Have Right to Hearing” in Washington Post, June 29, 2004. Serial and Government Publications Division, Library of Congress (071,071.00.01)
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Executive Power
- Henry de Bracton (d. 1268). On the limits of kingship in De Legibus et Consueditudinibus Angliae [On the Laws and Customs of England]. London: Richard Tottel, 1569. Law Library, Library of Congress (076)
- Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) to James Madison (1751–1836), March 15, 1789. Manuscript letter. James Madison Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (073)
- Draft opinion in the Youngstown Sheet and Tube, Co. v. Sawyer, May 22, 1952. Typescript with handwritten notes. Robert H. Jackson Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (054, 054.00.01)
- Jerry Costello (1897–1971). Iron-fisted Breach. Published in Knickerbocker News (Albany), April 23, 1952. India ink and opaque white over graphite underdrawing. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (055)
- Edward Sorel (b. 1929). Milhous I: Lord of San Clemente, Duke of Key Biscayne, Captain of Watergate, 1974. India ink and watercolor on paper attached to illustration board. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (056)
- Federal Supplement: Jones v. Clinton (869 F. Supp. 690 (E.D. Ark. 1994). St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Company, 1995. Law Library, Library of Congress (057)
- Herbert Block (Herblock) (1909–2001). “Same Wise Bunch that Decided the Paula Jones Case Wouldn’t Take Up Much of His Time,” August 5, 1998. Graphite, porous point pen, India ink, and opaque white over blue pencil underdrawing. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress © Herblock, 1998. Image reproduced courtesy of the Herblock Foundation (058)
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Magna Carta in Culture
- Herbert Block (Herblock) (1909–2001). “We turned it down by mistake—We Thought It Contained Classified Information,” published in the Washington Post, March 12, 1976. Graphite, porous point pen, India ink, and opaque white over blue pencil underdrawing. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress © Herblock, 1976. Image reproduced courtesy of the Herblock Foundation (055)
- John Philip Sousa (1854–1932). “Magna Charta March,” 1927. Printed sheet music. Music Division, Library of Congress (060.00.00–01)
- Magna Carta U.S. Postage Stamps, first day covers and flyer, June 15, 1965. Private collection and courtesy of Martha Hopkins (063.00.00-04)
- National Geographic Society. Medieval England. Washington, D.C.: The Society, 1989. Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress (002)
- William Hone (1780–1842). The Queen and Magna Charta with illustrations by Robert Cruikshank (1789–1856). 5th ed. London: T. Dolby, 1820. Law Library, Library of Congress (059)
- “Magna Carta” in Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact. Dayton, Ohio: G. A. Pflaum. Volume. 12, no. 15.March 28, 1957. Comic Book Collection, Serial and Government Publications Division, Library of Congress (061)
- Magna Carta. London: Repertoire Records, 1969; rereleased 2010. Compact disc. Private Collection (072)
- BridgeAnne d’Avignon. We Are All Related: U.S. Presidents’ Family Tree. WeAreAllRelated.com, ©2009. Offset lithograph. Private Collection (066)
- Jay Z (b. 1969). Magna Carta Holy Grail promotional photo at Salisbury Cathedral, 2013. Courtesy of Salisbury Cathedral, England (067)
- Statutes of the Baronial Order of Runnemede [Instituted January 8, 1898]. Philadelphia: J. E. Caldwell & Co., 1928. Law Library, Library of Congress (065)
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