United States Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights go on display in the UK for first time

The United States Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights have gone on display in the UK for the first time as part of a new exhibition at the British Library.

Commemorating the 800 years since the Magna Carta was signed, 'Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy' also contains two original 1215 Magna Carta manuscripts, the unique 'draft' of Magna Carta, known as the Articles of the Barons (1215), the Petition of Right (1628), the English Bill of Rights (1689) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) on display together.

The teeth, thumb bone, will and fragments of clothing taken from the tomb of King John, who signed the Magna Carta, will also travel to London for the exhibition.

Thomas Jefferson's handwritten copy of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, on loan from the New York Public Library, and the Delaware copy of the 1989 US Bill of Rights, on loan from the US National Archives, are two of the most iconic documents in American history.

Julian Harrison, co-curator of the exhibition, explained why documents like the US Declaration of Independence and the Magna Carta had been brought together for the exhibition.

"We hope that, by seeing Magna Carta alongside other documents it has inspired — including the Declaration of Independence and US Bill of Rights — our visitors will be encouraged to reflect on the charter's influence over the past 800 years and what it means to them today.

"Magna Carta established for the first time that everybody was subject to the law and that nobody, not even the king, was above the law, principles that we often take for granted," he said.

Also on display will be the little known government papers from the British Cabinet in 1941 proposing to give one of the original 1215 Magna Carta documents to the USA in return for their support in World War Two.

The papers, on loan to the Library from The National Archives and on display for the first time, are annotated by Winston Churchill and describe the suggested gift of Magna Carta as "the only really adequate gesture which it is in our power to make in return for the means to preserve our country".