In Congress, July 4, 1776. William J. Stone & Peter Force “Exact Facsimile” of the Declaration of Independence

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• ARTIST: William Stone

• MEDIUM: Engraving,

  DATE: 1824 (1833).

• EDITION SIZE: Paper size 29 x 25 1/4" (73.7 x 64.1 cm).

• DESCRIPTION: The William J. Stone engraving is considered the most important copy of the Declaration of Independence, as the original is badly faded.<BR><BR> John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State (1817-1825), in 1820 commissioned William J. Stone to engrave an exact facsimile of the Declaration of Independence. Congress approved the commission. It was to be a high-quality, actual-size replica of the original document.<BR><BR> Stone held the original Declaration of Independence for more than two years to carefully copy the signatures of each of the 56 delegates and the text. In 1824 he returned the original and delivered the 200 impressions printed on vellumn to Congress. The printings were distributed by John Quincy Adams to former presidents, vice presidents, state governors, and the three surviving signers.<BR><BR> In 1833 Peter Force, a printer, historian, and Mayor to be of Washington, DC, conceived an anthology entitled "American Archives: A Documentary History of the United States of America" containing copies of letters, documents, and broadsides from the Revolutionary War. Peter Force arranged for the State Department, who owned Stone’s original copper plate to print 1,500 copies for his publication. William Stone’s imprint was burnished out of the top of the plate and added to the lower left with “W. J. Stone SC.”<BR><BR> Peter Force printing of the William J. Stone plate was invoiced on July 21, 1833. The book it was published in "American Archives: A Documentary History of the United States of America," Series 5, Volume 1 was published in 1848. Therefore, the date on these impressions is when they were printed, not when the book was published.<BR><BR> William J. Stone (1798-1865) was born in London and emigrated to America with his family in 1804. He was apprenticed to the engraver Peter Maverick in New York. After his apprenticeship, he moved to Washington, DC, and established his own engraving business. He received a patent for a printer’s inking apparatus in 1829. Stone continued to work as a printer and engraver in Washington for the rest of his career.<BR><BR> Peter Force (1790-1868) was born near Passaic Falls, New Jersey. He moved to New York City, where he learned the printing trade. He served during the War of 1812, rising to the rank of lieutenant. At the end of the war, he moved to Washington, D.C, and worked for public printer, William A. Davis. He founded and published the "National Journal" until 1830., supported John Quincy Adams for president in 1824, and served as Mayor of Washington from 1836 to 1840. He published a series of rare pamphlets in four volumes between 1836 and 1846. From 1837 to 1853, Force published nine volumes of his "American Archives: A Documentary History of the United States," under the authority of Congress and the sponsorship of the State Department.

• ADDITIONAL INFO:

• CONDITION: Good condition, with minor offsetting and folds from the original binding.

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• CATEGORIES: 18th-19th Century Subjects , Historical , Revolutionary War