NEW YORK (Reuters) – A rare 710-year-old copy of the Magna Carta valued at up to $30 million (14.9 million pounds) is due to be sold by The Perot Foundation at Sotheby’s in New York in December, the auction house said on Tuesday.

The Magna Carta established rights of the English people and curbed the power of the king. The U.S. Constitution includes ideas and phrases taken almost directly from the charter, which rebellious barons forced their oppressive King John to sign in 1215.

Sotheby’s said the Magna Carta was ratified and reissued with each monarch who succeeded John. It was enacted as law in 1297 by parliament when it was reissued by King Edward I. The copy to be sold is from 1297.

Sotheby’s said there are fewer than 20 copies of the Magna Carta and that this copy, which has been on display at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington D.C., is one of only two held outside of Britain. The other copy, also from 1297, is owned by the Australian government.

David Redden, Sotheby’s vice chairman, said the document “symbolizes mankind’s eternal quest for freedom; it is a talisman of liberty”.

Sotheby’s said The Perot Foundation, created by billionaire former U.S. presidential candidate Ross Perot to make philanthropic grants, would use the money for its charities. The Foundation bought the Magna Carta in 1984.

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It was down for several months due to spam and other sorts of weirdness, but since the server change all is well.

All emails to me should be directed to the above address from now on. Please update address books.

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Always at the edge of technology, Buckingham Palaces now offers a Royal podcast. View it here on the official British Monarchy website.

“Mandy’s British Royalty” is staying at the same URL and under the same name. No changes there, but there is going to be a change of server underway this week, and it may cause the site to go down entirely for a time. The Royal Rep will be just fine however!

Thanks very much for your patience.

I always remember how absolutely soaked Diana and Charles were after an open-air concert when they met Pavarotti. You could tell nothing could dampen Charles’ spirits as he met the world’s greatest tenor. Pavarotti was a true gem.

He will be missed. A huge loss to the opera world.