Magna Carta: Under The Microscope

Gain an insight into the cutting-edge techniques used to care for the 800-year-old Magna Carta

Ahead of the 2015 anniversary of Magna Carta, the British Library’s collection care team has undertaken extensive scientific analysis of the two original charters held in our collections. Our resident conservation experts explain how the manuscripts were prepared for display in the current exhibition and share their personal experiences of working with these iconic documents.

Find out how cutting-edge microscopy has helped recover text that has not been read in 250 years and how state-of-the-art preservation techniques ensure these fragile documents can be enjoyed by future generations.