Prep for the Declaration of Independence Dunlap Broadsides

Today there are only 25 of these broadsides that are known to exist. The original Declaration of Independence that was signed by John Hancock and Charles Thomson after the delegates voted on July 4, 1776 is lost. One of these unsigned "Dunlap Broadsides", as it is known, sold for $8.14 million in a August 2000 New York City Auction. This copy was discovered in 1989 by a man browsing in a flea market who purchased a painting for four dollars because he was interested in the frame. Concealed in the backing of the frame was an Original Dunlap Broadside of the Declaration of Independence.The other printings of the Dunlap Broadside known to exist are dispersed among private owners, American and British institutions. The following are the current know locations of the Dunlap Broadsides.National Archives, Washington, DCLibrary of Congress, Washington, DC (two copies)Maryland Historical Society, BaltimoreUniversity of Virginia, Charlottesville, VAIndependence National Historic Park, PhiladelphiaAmerican Philosophical Society, PhiladelphiaHistorical Society of Pennsylvania, PhiladelphiaPrinceton University, Princeton, NJNew York Historical SocietyNew York Public LibraryPierpont Morgan Library, New YorkMassachusetts Historical Society, BostonHarvard University, Cambridge, MAChapin Library, Williams College, Williamstown, MAYale University, New Haven, CTAmerican Independence Museum, Exeter, NHMaine Historical Society, PortlandIndiana University, Bloomington, INChicago Historical SocietyCity of Dallas, City HallNorman Lear and David Hayden (private collectors)Public Record Office, United Kingdom (two copies).

DT and ED