What is the handwritten parchment version of the Declaration of Independence called?

The handwritten parchment version of the Declaration of Independence is called the engrossed copy.

To engross a document means to prepare a formal, carefully written version, usually for official signing or preservation. The Declaration’s engrossed copy was written on parchment and contains the signatures associated with the founding document displayed today.

It differs from the Dunlap broadsides, which were printed paper copies produced shortly after Congress approved the text. The engrossed version was prepared later, after Congress ordered the declaration to be fairly engrossed with its formal title.

The parchment copy is generally treated as the official signed document. It was transferred to the National Archives in 1952 and is displayed in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom alongside the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.