John Dunlap produced the first broadside editions of the Declaration of Independence.
After Congress approved the document on July 4, 1776, a handwritten copy was taken to Dunlap’s Philadelphia printing shop. He worked through the night and printed roughly 200 broadsides, large single-sheet copies intended for distribution and public reading. These became known as the Dunlap broadsides.
The original manuscript used for the printing has not survived, and historians debate whether Dunlap worked from a copy in Thomas Jefferson’s hand or another congressional copy. The broadsides spread news of independence rapidly through the colonies and to military leaders.
Only 26 Dunlap broadsides are known to survive today. They are valuable historical artifacts, but they are not the same as the engrossed parchment copy displayed at the National Archives. That later formal copy was prepared and signed primarily in August 1776.