John Dunlap produced the famous Dunlap broadsides of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
After Congress approved the text, a handwritten copy was sent to Dunlap’s Philadelphia printing shop. He worked through the night to create broadside copies, single sheets printed on one side for rapid distribution to officials, military leaders, and communities.
About 200 broadsides were produced, although only 26 are known to survive. They are named after their printer and are among the earliest physical witnesses to the Declaration’s public circulation.
Dunlap’s broadsides are not the same as the engrossed parchment copy displayed today. The parchment was prepared later and signed primarily on August 2. Mary Katharine Goddard also played an important role by printing a signed version, but she was not the printer of the Dunlap broadsides.