A Rare Declaration of Independence Broadside Printed by a Secret British Loyalist Is Up for Auction

A Rare Declaration of Independence Broadside Printed by a Secret British Loyalist Is Up for Auction

On the night of July 4, 1776, a Philadelphia printer named John Dunlap was handed a draft of what is arguably the most consequential document in American history and told to get it into print. He set type through the night, printing around 200 broadside copies of the manuscript that would be read aloud at town gatherings, nailed to posts and passed from hand to hand. Some went to local printers across the colonies, who produced their own edition…