PBA Galleries

A remarkable facsimile of the Declaration of Independence, the single most important document in the history of our nation. This finely executed copper engraving was printed from the original copperplate made by William J. Stone in 1823. In that year, Congress authorized the production of facsimile copies of the Declaration of Independence, either because the original document was deteriorating or, according to some writers, because the surviving signers were aging and were desirous of copies to spark their memories of the momentous occasion. At any rate, Stone was commissioned to use a new Wet-Ink transfer process to create a copperplate from which facsimile copies could then be made. By wetting the original document, some of the original ink was transferred to the copperplate, which was then used for printing. Stone printed 201 copies on parchment (or vellum, the same type of material on which the original was handwritten). These were distributed to Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, members of Congress, surviving Signers, colleges and universities, etc. Only 31 examples of this printing are known to have survived. In 1848 Peter Force used the original Stone copperplate to print additional copies to be included in Vol. I of the Fifth Series of his American Archives. Congress had authorized up to 1500 copies of the work to be printed, but subscriptions fell far short of that, and perhaps as few as 500 copies were actually produced, though other estimates range as high as a thousand.