The Declaration of Independence’s first printed edition was the Dunlap broadside, issued in July 1776.
Philadelphia printer John Dunlap produced about 200 copies for the Continental Congress shortly after the document’s adoption. These large single-sheet prints were intended for distribution to colonial assemblies, military leaders, and the public.
The Dunlap broadside did not list all 56 eventual signers. It printed the names of John Hancock, president of Congress, and Charles Thomson, the congressional secretary, because the parchment engrossed copy was not yet available in its final form. This is why the first printed edition differs from the famous signed document.
The Goddard broadside, printed later in January 1777, was the first broadside to publish the names of the signers. Collectors and historians distinguish these editions because they document different stages in how independence was announced to the public.