Historic "Declaration of Independence" engraving by publisher John Binns — Limited edition archival print

Updated January 15: These are sold out, but we are considering printing more, possibly in January or February of 2021.  To be notified if we do decide to print more, enter your e-mail address above.

We also have this engraving in a much smaller commercial print. 

"I've admired this since I first saw it, and have been looking for a couple of years for some way we could offer a really high quality version that really shows the beauty of the engraving.

We're reproducing it at 22" x 30", very close to its original size, and we're doing it as a fine art print for people who want to frame this and hand it down from generation to generation.

Admittedly, it's not an original print from the engraved plate, but those are expensive. In fact, an original, not in great shape, sold on August 28, 2020 for $4,000 (before the buyer's premium).

For our print, we've invested in substantial reconstruction of some larger missing pieces around the edge and done some other small corrections, but have left most of the other signs of wear. The result, framed, should be something that looks close to an original.

I'm eager to get this printed and framed, and I hope you are, too. Historically these were framed without mats. If you choose to frame it without a mat, you can find 22" x 30" assembled frames online for less than $100.  Larger frames and mats are available online, too.  Either way, this is probably the most affordable option (versus custom framing at a craft store or at an independent frame store). However, if you want conservation framing, you will want to go to an independent frame shop and specify that that’s what you want.

— Lee Wright  |  Founder  |  The History List  |  History Camp  |  The Pursuit of History

Size: 22" x 30" That includes a 1/4" that we added around the perimeter for a mat or frame. (Otherwise the mat or frame would have cut off the top of the engraving.) 

The original was 26” x 36”.

About the paper weight and printing process: Printed on fine art grade 100% cotton rag, acid-free archival paper with archival inks.

Historical background

"A virtual war ensued between rival printers John Binns and Benjamin Owen Tyler to be the first to publish and garner Jefferson's endorsement. Binns was the publisher of the Republican Philadelphia newspaper The Democratic Press. In June 1816, he began taking subscriptions for his print of the Declaration, which was to be surrounded by portraits of John Hancock, George Washington, and Jefferson, and the seals of all thirteen states, but he failed to produce the work until 1819.

"In the meantime Tyler took advantage of Binns's publicity and produced a less expensive and unornamented print in April 1818, complete with facsimile signatures and a dedication to Jefferson. Tyler was a self-taught calligrapher and penmanship instructor. When he asked Jefferson for permission to dedicate the engraving to him, Jefferson consented but reminded Tyler that he was "but a fellow-laborer" with the other signers:

for the few of us remaining can vouch, I am sure, on behalf of those who have gone before us, that notwithstanding the lowering aspect of the day, no hand trembled on affixing it's signature to that paper.

"Tyler sent Jefferson a copy of his work on parchment, and sometime after May 1818, paid a visit to Monticello, where he spent the day teaching penmanship to Jefferson's family.

"Binns's response to Tyler's success was to dedicate his work to the people of the United States. He sent a proof of the print to Jefferson in 1819 soliciting comments. [The text of his letter to Jefferson.] "[T]he dedication to the people is peculiarly appropriate," Jefferson wrote, "for it is their work, and particularly entitled to my approbation with whom it has ever been a principle to consider individuals as nothing in the scale of the nation." Jefferson added that the print's "great value will be in it's exactness as a fac-simile to the original paper," a comment that foreshadowed Binns's next struggle.

"Binns had hoped to sell 200 copies of his print to the government but was disappointed in 1820 by then secretary of state John Quincy Adams's commission of an exact facsimile of the original by William J. Stone. "

Source: Monticello.

Learn more about the historical background of this print, including information from the National Park Service, the Library of Congress, and leading auction houses here.