The
Declaration
Of Independence
Encounter three rare historic prints of the Declaration of Independence — including an official 1823 Stone Declaration — at the Durham County Main Library and the Nasher Museum of Art. Presented as part of We the People, the exhibition invites reflection on the nation’s founding ideals and their continuing influence today.
What is the Stone Declaration of Independence?
In 1776, delegates of the thirteen colonies, now known as the “founding fathers,” drafted the Declaration of Independence, a document announcing separation from British colonial rule and initiating the American Revolution.
Several decades later, the roots of nationhood had taken hold as the country rebuffed the British army for a second time in the War of 1812, and the young republic’s story was recorded in literature and art. The period is often referred to, if misleadingly, as the “era of good feelings,” for its relative political stability, geographical expansionism, and national pride. Despite this, however, slavery continued and the US maintained brutal policies of forced removal and genocide of Indigenous peoples.
During this time, printed versions of the Declaration of Independence-including three early copies featured in this exhibition-were key to disseminating and reinforcing the founding ideals of the country. In 1820, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams commissioned William Stone to engrave an official replica of the document. Two hundred copies of the “Stone Declaration” were printed and distributed to government repositories, significant officeholders, and the few surviving signers of the Declaration. Fewer than 40 Stone Declarations are known to survive today, and one is in Durham. The Stone Declaration is accompanied by two historic broadsides created by Benjamin Owen Tyler (1818) and John Binns (1819), single-sheet printed editions that helped circulate the Declaration to the public.
After two hundred and fifty years, the Declaration’s radical vision continues to resonate, even if its claims of liberty and equality remain unfulfilled. Presented alongside exhibitions that critically examine the complexities and contradictions of the American past, these documents offer an opportunity for renewed scrutiny. Understood in this broader context, they reveal the United States as an aspirational yet unfinished democratic experiment, one whose founding ideals remain as urgent as ever.
Copies on Display:
Three historic copies of the Declaration of Independence are on loan from the David M. Rubenstein Americana Collection.
Engraved by William J. Stone (1798-1865)
Printed by the U.S. State Department
Engraving on vellum
Washington, D.C.: 1823
Photo by Vincent Dilio
Published by John Binns (1772-1860)
Printed by James Porter
Engraving on paper
Philadelphia: 1819
Photo by Vincent Dilio
Printed by Benjamin Owen Tyler (1789-aft. 1855)
Engraved by Peter Maverick
Engraving on vellum
Washington, D.C.: 1818
Photo by Vincent Dilio
Print History
The definitive engraved broadside of
The Declaration of Independence
by William J. Stone
The image of the Declaration of Independence one usually sees is that of an engraved broadside such as this, created nearly 50 years after the Continental Congress adopted the resolution. In 1823, John Quincy Adams, then the nation’s secretary of state, commissioned 200 copies of this facsimile of the original to be made and sent to select officials. It is the most accurate representation of the signed version of the Declaration—in its faithfulness to the handwriting, size, and use of parchment (animal skin)—and thus it is the most renowned printing of it.
The original Declaration, on display at the National Archives, is much more faded and fragile. How the printer, William J. Stone, created this facsimile remains debated. He may have traced it by hand or with a device. Or he could have made a moistened “press copy” to transfer the ink of the original onto a plate for engraving, which would have abetted in the deterioration. But considering that the original was relocated over twelve times, often for hiding, between the Revolutionary War’s start and War of 1812’s end, its wear likely had many causes.
Only about 50 copies of the Stone Declaration are known to exist today. In 1824, Congress ordered that, along with members of state and federal governments, the three living signers receive copies: Charles Carroll, who represented Maryland in the Continental Congress; Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration’s principal drafter; and John Adams, who helped edit Jefferson’s draft and was father to John Quincy. This copy has a note on the bottom left indicating that it was received by Thomas Emory, a politician and plantation owner from Queen Anne’s County, MD.
The original, illustrated broadside of
The Declaration of Independence
by John Binns
This printing of the Declaration of Independence marks the start of when America began to fully appreciate its founding documents. It was made during the Era of Good Feelings, a roughly ten-year period after the War of 1812, aligning with James Monroe’s presidency, when there was an upswell in shared national pride. American patriotism for the first time looked to the founding generation and saw in the Declaration of Independence a precise “expression of the American mind,” as Jefferson later wrote to Richard Henry Lee, a fellow founder from Virginia.
Until then, most Americans had never seen a reproduction of the Declaration. The texts of it that circulated were not uniform, and most printings lacked the delegates’ names. The Irish-born, Philadelphia-based publisher John Binns saw an opportunity to create “a splendid and correct copy [with] facsimiles of all the signatures… encircled with the arms of the thirteen States,” as he noted in his memoirs. He promised his subscribers a broadside by 1817, but the enormity of his project, involving multiple artists and printers, delayed him for two years.
The delay intensified the public’s desire to see a printed Declaration. Before Binns could produce his engraving, he was outdone by Benjamin Tyler, a self-taught calligraphist who copied the signatures by hand. As Binns issued apologies in his newspaper, the Democratic Press, Tyler advertised his Declaration for half the cost. They traded accusations in the press, which only created more interest. In the fracas, Binns was pirated by one of his engravers, and Tyler too was undersold by a partial knockoff, resulting in four Declarations in print by 1819’s end.
The first engraved broadside of
The Declaration of Independence
by Benjamin Owen Tyler
This engraved broadside by Benjamin Owen Tyler is the first printed facsimile of the Declaration of Independence to accurately depict the original. But what does it mean to be a “correct copy of the charter” with “facsimile cop[ies] of all the signatures,” as Tyler described it to Thomas Jefferson when asking to dedicate the work to him? Tyler was a penman; here he recreated the script of the original using a free hand and trained eye. Whereas William Stone’s authenticity came from a mechanical or chemical process, Tyler’s authenticity came from artful emulation.
Tyler’s renditions of the signatures were sensations when they appeared in 1818 and were promptly reproduced in books. If one compares the handwritings in the Tyler, Binns, and Stone Declarations, one sees slight variances in the signatures of some founders. Tyler stylistically enhanced the manuscript originals; in the words of scholar John Bidwell, he “could not subdue the writing master’s urge to correct and improve.” Tyler had planned for “the emphatical words [to be] written in a more ornamental hand”—but he embellished some of the autographs too.
The difficulty in being accurate for all such engravings is that they are not copies of the initial Declaration. The July 4, 1776, announcement was a broadside printed in moveable type by John Dunlap of Philadelphia, of which only 26 copies still exist. Prior to this was only Jefferson’s drafts and the “fair copy” sent to the printer, which has never been found. What Tyler recreated is the final “engrossed” copy, penned by Timothy Matlack, clerk to the Continental Congress. The iconic Declaration that we celebrate was actually signed by the founders on August 2, 1776.
Plan Your Visit
As part of this citywide exhibition, the historic documents will be presented at multiple locations in Durham from September 2026 through January 2027. Each venue has its own exhibition schedule and hours of operation, so please consult the information below when planning your visit.
Both guided and self-guided groups wishing to visit the Declaration at the Nasher Museum of Art must submit a reservation inquiry online.
To schedule a social event that includes a tour or viewing of the Declaration at the Nasher Museum of Art, please submit an event inquiry, and add a tour request on the notes.