Magna Carta copy sells for $21.3M

(CNN) -- The only copy of the Magna Carta in the United States, regarded as the earliest declaration of human rights, will be returned to the National Archives by the man who purchased it for more than $21.3 million.

The document, which was on loan to the Archives from 1988 until earlier this year, was sold Tuesday at Sotheby's auction house in New York.

The vellum manuscript, which dates back to 1297, was issued by King Edward I and is credited with memorializing the rights of man into English law.

It is one of 17 known documents, grouped under the collective heading of the Magna Carta, conceived of as the foundation for liberty and democracy.

The winning bid came from David Rubenstein, former aide to the Carter administration, and co-founder and managing director of the Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm based in Washington D.C, according to Sotheby's.

Rubenstein expressed his intention to return the manuscript to the National Archives in Washington where it had been displayed alongside the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. Watch what young people have to say about this document »

He said he feared "the only copy in America would escape," and described his purchase as "a gift to the American people."

"There is nothing more important than what it represents."

The Magna Carta previously was owned by the Perot Foundation, who purchased it from an English family in 1983.

David Redden, a Vice Chairman at Sotheby's and the sale's auctioneer, told CNN: "The most extraordinary document in the world was placed up for auction and the most perfect outcome was achieved." E-mail to a friend