This week saw a most unusual event involving one of the most important documents in western civilization. Approaching the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta this June, the British Library hosted a three-day exhibit reuniting the four remaining original copies of the document which influenced the establishment of the rule of law around the world. Originally, a copy, sealed by King John, was sent to each county and held in the local cathedral. Most have been lost to the sands of time. Today, the Lincoln and Salisbury cathedrals retain their copies and will have them on display in brand-new exhibits for the summer anniversary. This week they joined the two held by the British Library and were viewed by a scant 1,215 public viewers, drawn from 47,000 applicants from 20 countries. Back in 1986, the Oregon Historical Society developed an exhibit centered around the Lincoln Magna Carta manuscript titled “Magna Carta: Liberty Under Law.” This week’s special exhibit in London jogged my memory of the Portland exhibit. Late in the summer of 1986, my husband and I attended the opening reception for that showing. He had taught history, and we both were eager to have a close encounter with such a significant document near to home. On a beautiful late summer evening we entered the courtyard outside the museum, passing through a reception line where we met the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had helped smooth the way for the document’s travels, and Oregon’s Senator Mark Hatfield. Numerous rare documents, historical artifacts and paintings on loan from many institutions (the Library of Congress, the Boston Athenaeum) made up the exhibit, but I only clearly recall viewing the Magna Carta itself, resting in a dimly lit, climate-controlled box. I remember the awe I felt at being in the presence of something which had affected the lives and freedom of so much of humanity. I learned some interesting tidbits as I researched for this blog. That exhibit at OHS in 1986, which hosted 55,000 visitors over its 16-week run, charged $3 for admission ($1 for students and seniors) — sounds like quite a bargain, doesn’t it? That wasn’t the first time the Lincoln manuscript had visited the United States, either. It was touring this country when World War II broke out and was kept for the British for safekeeping at the Library of Congress until the United States entered the war in 1941, when it was secured in Ft. Knox until the end of the war. For those seeking their own encounter with one of the original copies of the Magna Carta, a trip to England this summer will open up a wide range of events marking the historic document’s anniversary. Check out this website for a whole slew of options. — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor