NEW YORK, NY December 19, 2007 —A 710-year-old copy of the Magna Carta has been sold at auction for $21.3 million. The document is dated 1297 and is the version of the declaration of human rights that became part of English law.

It had been expected to draw bids of $30 million or higher.

Sotheby's officials call it "the birth certificate of freedom.'' It is one of 17 known copies of the historic tract.

Sotheby's says the buyer is David Rubenstein, of The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm.