A volunteer working in the UK's National Archives has discovered a rare surviving copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The document, found following restoration work, is considered an "extraordinary discovery" by Saul Nassé, chief executive of The National Archives.
This particular copy is one of only 11 known surviving examples from the first printings produced in New Hampshire. "It's a vanishingly rare surviving copy of the Declaration of Independence, found not in America, but here in the UK," Nassé stated.
Dr. Graham Moore, from The National Archives, explained that these early printings were intended for rapid distribution rather than long-term preservation. "After the original printing on 4 July, the news of the Declaration is travelling fast around North America and its being reprinted as it reaches each successive colony," he told BBC News. "The copy we have is one of only 11 surviving from the first ones printed in New Hampshire."
The document's journey to the UK involved its seizure by the Royal Navy on Christmas Eve 1776. A British ship, HMS Raisonable, captured an American vessel named the Dalton off the coast of Portugal after a seven-hour pursuit. The captured ship was carrying this copy of the Declaration.
The newly found document is now part of the archives' exhibition on the path to American independence, which opened last month.