What was the Declaration of Independence’s first printed edition called, in the history behind America250?

The Declaration of Independence’s first printed edition was called the Dunlap broadside.

John Dunlap, a Philadelphia printer, produced the broadside soon after Congress adopted the Declaration in July 1776. A broadside is a large sheet printed on one side, rather than a bound book or a folded newspaper. Dunlap’s printing allowed the revolutionary announcement to circulate beyond the delegates who had approved it.

The surviving copies are known as Dunlap broadsides because they were printed by Dunlap. Historians identify dozens of surviving copies, although the exact original number printed is not known with certainty. George Washington had the Declaration read to Continental Army troops, helping spread its message during the war.

The broadside is not the same object as the famous engrossed parchment copy displayed at the National Archives. The parchment was the formal handwritten version signed by delegates, while the Dunlap broadside was an early printed dissemination of the text.