John Dunlap printed 200 copies in the first broadside edition of the Declaration of Independence.
Dunlap was a Philadelphia printer who produced the document shortly after Congress adopted it. These large single-sheet prints are known as the Dunlap broadsides. They allowed the Declaration’s words to circulate quickly through the colonies and beyond.
Copies were sent to colonial leaders and military commanders, including George Washington. Washington arranged for the Declaration to be read aloud to Continental Army troops in New York. Other copies reached communities, government offices, and observers in Europe.
The Dunlap broadsides were not the same as the later engrossed parchment copy bearing the delegates’ signatures. The broadside was a printed version intended for distribution, while the engrossed copy became the formal signed document. A small number of Dunlap broadsides survive today.