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Rare 1819 Printing DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

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Autographs

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Impressive 1819 "William Woodruff" Ornate Broadside Philadelphia Printing of The Declaration of Independence

(DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE) Printed Ornate Broadside, Engraved By William Woodruff, Published by O. Rogers, No. 67 South 2nd St. Philadelphia, Choice Fine.
This is an original, historic 28" tall x 22" wide decorative Broadside Print of The Declaration of Independence, as Engraved by William Woodruff, whose name appears ornately printed at the bottom, published in 1819. The text of the Declaration appears inside a very ornate circular frame formed by a wreath and seals of the thirteen original American colonies. The central design is topped by portraits of the first three Presidents; George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, above are several flags, and a Heraldic American Eagle. Below, all of the signatures of the signers of the original document are uniformly printed as facsimiles of the actual signer's signatures. This authentic copy of the Woodruff Broadside printing is very nice and remains in comparative above average condition to those we have seen offered over the years. This "Declaration" appears to have a crease at center, with some slight edge tears and scattered stains at the outer left margin, which would easily be covered by the mat, when framed for display. One of the earliest and most important, historic printings of The Declaration of Independence.

This Broadside appeared just a few months before a very similar printing was offered by John Binns, who then accused Woodruff of stealing his design and filed a lawsuit against him. A "war of words" then raged in the newspapers of the day, between Binns and Woodruff, over the two historic printings of the Declaration, creating lots of free advertising for their Broadsides and remarkably generating an increased interest in the Declaration itself.

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