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Exhibitions at The Research Libraries The Declaration of IndependenceFrom June 25, 2004 through July 31, 2004  The Library is honored to safeguard a fair copy of the Declaration of Independence in Thomas Jefferson’s hand. In the days immediately following ratification on July 4, 1776, he made several copies of the text that had been submitted to the Continental Congress, underlining the passages to which changes had been made. The Library’s copy is one of two known to survive intact, a third survivor being fragmentary. It is shown to celebrate Independence Day, together with the first Philadelphia printing and the first New York printing of the final version issued by Congress. These versions are complemented by the earliest newspaper printings; the second official version ordered by Congress, published by a woman printer in Baltimore; and a letter from Franklin to Washington mentioning that the Declaration was being drafted. |