[Declaration of Independence]

Estimate

12,000 - 18,000 USD

bidding is closed

Description

In Congress, July 4th 1776. The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America. Washington: Benjamin Owen Tyler, 1818
paper, ink

Engraved broadside on paper (799 x 649 mm), glazed and framed to 1025 x 872 mm; a few tiny paper repairs to verso, very minor creasing to edges, otherwise very fine.

Literature

see John Bidwell, "American History in Image and Text," in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, Vol. 98, part 2 (October 1988), no.2.; Shaw & Shoemaker 46130

Catalogue Note

The first, and most sought after facsimile of the founding document of the United States, and the first publication of it in the form of the original document, with highly faithful rendering of the signers' signatures.

The Declaration of Independence was reprinted numerous times since its original publication in 1776, though the early printed versions contained remarkable differences from the original, including differences in the title of the document itself, and notably, with the famous signatures omitted. Benjamin Owen Tyler, a writing master, remedied this with his calligraphic version of the Declaration, giving the title and text exactly as they appeared in the original manuscript, and exactly recreating the signatures as they appeared in the original. "Tyler retained every stroke and nuance of his models, preserving their proportions, stress and weight, so convincing are his signatures that they masquerade as originals in a recent book on American autographs" (Bidwell). Both the Acting Secretary of State, Richard Rush and the author of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson, endorsed Tyler's facsimile.