John Dunlap printed about 200 copies of the Declaration in 1776 for the America250 story.
Dunlap produced the copies as broadsides in Philadelphia on the night of July 4, after Congress approved the final wording. The estimate is approximate because no complete production record survives, but historians generally place the original run at about 200 sheets.
The broadsides were designed for rapid circulation. Copies went to colonial governments and military leaders, including George Washington, who was instructed to have the Declaration read to his troops. The first newspaper publication appeared shortly afterward in the Pennsylvania Evening Post on July 6.
Only a small fraction of the original broadsides survives. The known total has changed as additional copies were identified, including a copy discovered in Britain in 2009. The later Goddard broadside was a different edition that included the signers' names.