Who wrote the engrossed copy of the United States Declaration of Independence?

Timothy Matlack wrote the engrossed copy of the United States Declaration of Independence.

An engrossed document is a carefully prepared final manuscript, usually written in formal script on parchment. Congress ordered the Declaration’s official engrossed copy after adopting the text. Timothy Matlack, a clerk associated with the Continental Congress, produced the version that became the famous signed parchment.

Thomas Jefferson wrote the original draft, but he did not create the final handwritten copy. John Hancock signed as president of the Continental Congress, while the 56 delegates added their signatures to the parchment, most on August 2, 1776.

The engrossed Declaration is now preserved at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Its large, faded parchment and prominent signatures make it one of the best-known physical artifacts connected with the founding of the United States and the America250 anniversary.