Magna Carta. by MAGNA CARTA; PINE, John (engr.) - 1733 but later.: By Permission of … the Trustees of the Cottonian Library. This Plate being a Correct Copy of King John's Great Charter…

London: John Pine, 1733 but later.. A sacred text Well preserved copy of this meticulously engraved copy of the Magna Carta, "a sacred text, the nearest approach to an irrepealable "fundamental statute" that England has ever had" (Pollock and Maitland, History of English Law, I, p. 173). The work of John Pine (1690-1756) engraver, publisher, print- and mapseller, Bluemantle Pursuivant at the College of Arms, and Engraver to the King's Signet and Stamp Office, this printing was made from one of the Cottonian library copies and heraldically embellished by him with the arms of the rebellious barons. Perhaps the most celebrated legal document of the English-speaking world, of which Churchill declared: "Here is a law which is above the King and which even he must not break. This reaffirmation of a supreme law and its expression in a general charter is the great work of Magna Carta; and this alone justifies the respect in which men have held it" (History of the English-speaking Peoples, I, p. 257). Engraving on paper (70 x 48 cm), central panel of text surrounded by the 25 coats-of-arms of the barons, hand-coloured, and a similar representation of the remains of King John's Great Seal, all panels enclosed by hand-coloured oak leaf and acorn borders. In a later ebonized wood frame with gilt slip, Artshield UV resistant perspex. Framed size: 80 x 58. cm Lightly browned, colour still bright, overall very good and handsomely presented. Lowndes 1449-50