Opening the Vault: Printing the Declaration of Independence

In 1820, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams commissioned engraver William J. Stone to make an exact replica of the entire Declaration of Independence, signatures and text. Stone created a copper plate and, in 1823, used it to strike approximately 200 copies on parchment. Fewer than 50 of the 200 copies are known to exist today. 

After William Stone printed the 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence, he burnished the top of the copperplate to remove the imprint line, and added a new imprint at the bottom left, below the first column of signatures: “W.J. STONE SC. WASHN.” Later printings from the Stone copperplate were printed on paper instead of parchment including this 1976 Bicentennial print. The original copper plate was housed at the Department of State until it was sent to the National Archives in 1937.

General Records of the Department of State

Learn more: The Stone Engraving: Icon of the Declaration

During the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, master printer Angelo LoVecchio at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing made a very limited printing from William Stone’s 1823 copper engraving plate of the Declaration of Independence. This was the first use of the engraving plate since the 1890s, and the last print run ever made. LoVecchio made six impressions—the National Archives gave one print to Independence Hall in Philadelphia and holds the remaining copies. 

Records of the National Archives and Records Administration

Learn more: Finding the Stones