Boston Public Library
The United States Declaration of Independence
The Boston Public Library Rare Books and Manuscripts team works to preserve and provide access to some of the earliest printed copies of the Declaration of Independence. Together, these copies illustrate the complicated history of the printing and publication of the Declaration.
The Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, voted for independence on July 2nd, 1776. On July 4th, the Congress formally adopted a revision of the Declaration of Independence itself and a handwritten draft was sent to the Philadelphia press of John Dunlap. That same evening, Dunlap printed the Declaration as a broadside, or large single-sided sheet.
Dunlap’s broadside was immediately sent to each of the thirteen states, to George Washington and other military commanders, and to a variety of state and local conventions, assemblies, and committees. As Dunlap’s broadside traveled, it was copied and reprinted and from those new versions further copies were made.
Today, an exceedingly small number of these “regional” printings survive. In total, BPL holds five copies of the Declaration of Independence dating from July of 1776. These were printed in Philadelphia, New Haven, Boston, and Salem. A sixth, printed in early 1777, is a copy of the first published version to bear the names of all the signers and is the only original version of the Declaration printed by a woman. BPL’s seventh copy is an extremely rare and particularly significant reproduction engraved in 1823 by order of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams.
BPL’s copies were acquired from a variety of sources, by purchase and by donation, over the course of many decades.
The Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, voted for independence on July 2nd, 1776. On July 4th, the Congress formally adopted a revision of the Declaration of Independence itself and a handwritten draft was sent to the Philadelphia press of John Dunlap. That same evening, Dunlap printed the Declaration as a broadside, or large single-sided sheet.
Dunlap’s broadside was immediately sent to each of the thirteen states, to George Washington and other military commanders, and to a variety of state and local conventions, assemblies, and committees. As Dunlap’s broadside traveled, it was copied and reprinted and from those new versions further copies were made.
Today, an exceedingly small number of these “regional” printings survive. In total, BPL holds five copies of the Declaration of Independence dating from July of 1776. These were printed in Philadelphia, New Haven, Boston, and Salem. A sixth, printed in early 1777, is a copy of the first published version to bear the names of all the signers and is the only original version of the Declaration printed by a woman. BPL’s seventh copy is an extremely rare and particularly significant reproduction engraved in 1823 by order of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams.
BPL’s copies were acquired from a variety of sources, by purchase and by donation, over the course of many decades.