Magna Carta copy to stay at archives.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: UP FRONT: News, Trends & Analysis - Brief article

A 710-year-old copy of the Magna Carta, the last remaining copy in the United States and the last in private hands, recently fetched $21.3 million--or $8,528 a word--at Sotheby's auction.

David Rubenstein, a Washington, D.C., businessman and former advisor to President Jimmy Carter, purchased the 1297 document and said he plans to keep it in the United States, on display at the National Archives, where it has been since 1988.

The 14-by-16-inch sheet of animal-skin vellum is one of only 17 originals of the "Great Charter" of English liberties first signed by King John at Runnymede in 1215, according to the UK Times Online. It consists of 2,500 words written in medieval Latin. The document established the rights of the English people and...