Timothy Matlack probably handwritten the engrossed parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence used in America250 commemorations.
Matlack was a clerk associated with the Continental Congress, and historians commonly identify him as the likely penman of the formal parchment document. “Engrossed” means written out carefully in a finished form, rather than being a rough draft or a quick printed broadside.
The handwritten copy was prepared after Congress approved the Declaration’s text. A July 19, 1776, resolution ordered that the Declaration be fairly engrossed on parchment and signed by members of Congress. Most of the signatures were added on August 2, with others following later.
Matlack was not the principal author of the Declaration. Thomas Jefferson wrote the main draft, working with revisions from Congress and members of the Committee of Five. The handwritten parchment and the printed broadsides are related versions of the Declaration, but they are not identical in physical history or appearance.