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Secondary sourceBook1540-41

The Great Charter, Called in Latin Magna Carta

Elisabeth Pickering · 1540-41

Colophon from an English printing of Magna Carta made in 1540–41 by printer Elizabeth Pickering, translating the Latin and French charter into English.

This printed English translation of Magna Carta made the charter's text accessible to Tudor readers.

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Printed black-letter colophon page in Old English type reading 'Thus endeth the boke called Magna Carta, translated out of latyn and frenshe into Englysh by George Ferrers. And Imprynted at London in Fletestrete by Elisabeth wydow of Robert Redman dwellyng at the sygne of the George nert to saynte Dunstones churche', followed by a privilege line in Latin.
Colophon, The Great Charter, Called in Latin Magna Carta, London: Elizabeth Pickering, 1540/41.

About this source

What it is

This is the colophon, or closing printer's note, from a 1540–41 English edition of Magna Carta. It states the book was translated from Latin and French into English by George Ferrers and printed in London by Elizabeth Pickering, who had taken over her late husband Robert Redman's printing business.

Why it matters

This printing made Magna Carta accessible to English readers who could not read Latin or French, during the Tudor period when the charter's reputation as a guarantee of ancient liberties was being revived. It also shows a woman, Elizabeth Pickering, running a printing house at a time when that trade was dominated by men.

Look closer

  • Why might translating Magna Carta into English matter to readers of the 1540s?
  • What does the printer's note tell you about who made books at this time?
  • What is lost or changed when a legal document is translated centuries after it was written?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Magna Carta on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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