Magna Carta Open House: Wednesday, February 25th

This year marks the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, a world treasure and one of the richest symbols of individual rights and government limited by law.

To celebrate the 800th anniversary, the Riesenfeld Center is mounting a year-long exhibition devoted to the great document and its legacy, based on the Center's outstanding collections of historical English and early American law books.  

All are invited to an open house next Wednesday, February 25th, for the opening of the exhibition: 

"Magna Carta, 800 Years: Rights and the Rule of Law"

Wednesday, February 25th, in the Riesenfeld Center (N30)

Open House: 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Snacks and refreshments will be served through the day.

The exhibition, drawn from the outstanding collections of historical law housed in the Riesenfeld Center, traces Magna Carta from its medieval beginnings, to its reception in early America and the constitutional framework that it inspired and shaped.  The exhibition showcases over 75 rare books and pamphlets, at the center of which is Magna Carta itself, which the Library holds in 14 editions printed before 1600.  Through the exhibit we invite visitors to explore the rich legacy and historical contexts of Magna Carta, and the tradition of rights and the rule of law.      

Magna Carta Winners!

Magna Carta. London: Richard Pynson, 1519.

We have winners of the quiz and poetry contests from last week's Magna Carta lobby celebration! Thanks to all who stopped by and participated - choosing among a few excellent poems was not easy (and of course our choices were subjective). There were also a number of perfect scores on the quiz, which required a drawing. Congratulations to Peter McElligott ('15) and Emily Scholtes ('16), who won prizes in the quiz contest. A special thanks to those who gathered their creative talents and poured them out in poetry submissions, and particularly Josh Zamzow ('15) and Beth Binczik ('16) for their winning entries. They are below, with the authors' permission. King John (well, at least the barons) would be proud!

                       ----

bench by bar and court by court

he habeased his corpus, he pled his tort

john's liberties now applied to all

supplicants both great and small

barristers and solicitors (both dong and ding)

hearken back to john our king

magna'ed cartas and righted bills

we use them for our cases still

- Joshua Zamzow

Power hungry English king

Sign and we shall stop fighting

Repudiate, implore the pope

But once you sign there is no hope

Power hungry English king

Sign and we shall stop fighting.

- Beth Binczik