Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Sotheby's Newest Item Up For Auction: the Magna Carta


Own a T206 Honus Wagner tobacco baseball card? Or a copy of Action Comics #1 in gem mint condition? How about a Van Gogh painting or a first edition print of the King James Bible? If you do then you probably think you've got it all. But you don't because you don't own an original copy of the Magna Carta and tonight, Sotheby's is going to be auctioning one off. It's ridiculous that a historical document, in many ways more important than the Constitution, is going to be privately owned by the highest bidder when it really belongs in a museum. I mean gosh, it's the freaking Magna Carta.

Valued at around $35K a word, I'm placing bets that C. Montgomery Burns will just barely outbid Scrooge McDuck and right as the auctioneer slams the hammer down, Carmen Sandiego will break through the window and steal it at the last minute.

Update: It sold for $21.3 million. A pretty good deal if you ask me.

2 comments:

Albo said...

Sotheby: Small world, Dr. John.

Johnny: Too small for two of us.

Sotheby: This is the second time I've had to reclaim my property from you.

Johnny: This belongs in a museum!

Sotheby: So do you!

AHR said...

Because I am dyslexic, apparently, I repeatedly read the phrase "The Manga Carta" in this article.

Realizing my mistake, I thought, "Someone SHOULD write the Manga Carta." But I was too late...

"The Manga Carta was a joint Japanese-British effort to create something that is both the foundation of democracy and otaku. It covers a broad range of subjects, from the liability of the king to tentacle rape."