The John Dunlap Broadside: The First Printing of the Declaration of Independence

by Frederick Richmond Goff

First edition, the hardbound variant. An analysis by a rare book expert of the 21 extant copies of the first printing of the Declaration of Independence, printed by the Philadelphia printer John Dunlap on July 4th and the morning of July 5th, 1776. With descriptions and facsimiles of all 21 copies. Ex library from the Pierpont Morgan library with their withdrawn stamp. Frontispiece; ii , 61, 3 pages. boards, paper cover label, slipcase.. large 4to..

61 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a project at work. It is extremely granular and detailed, but that's exactly what it's trying to do. It is an excellent reference text with just enough contextual information to be useful. It gave me exactly what I needed to know for my work task, plus some.

I read this at the same time that I'm reading Michael Auslin's National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America, and it was so helpful to have this book to reference. It helped me delineate different copies of the Dunlap broadside, identify what Auslin was describing, and gain a hint of exposure to a scientific and book-history approach to the physical artifact (as opposed to the social, political, and memory histories I've otherwise been focusing on).

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone outside of work, but I think my coworkers who also give tours, show-and-tells, or collaborative events on the Dunlap should have this as a go-to resource.