Rare copy of US Declaration of Independence found by volunteer in UK archives
A rare copy of the US Declaration of Independence, one of only about 200 known copies printed in 1776, was discovered by a volunteer during a document audit at the UK's National Archives in Kew, London. The parchment manuscript had been misfiled among other records and was found by a volunteer helping to catalog historical documents.
Background
- A volunteer archivist in the UK discovered a rare manuscript copy of the US Declaration of Independence, likely made in the 1780s, hidden in a record office in Chichester, England.
- This is a handwritten copy, not the original 1776 engrossed parchment (which is in the US National Archives). It appears to be one of about 200 known "Middleton" copies, produced in London and named after the 18th-century clerk who copied them.
- The find is historically significant because it shows how news of the Declaration spread across the Atlantic and was copied by hand before mass printing was common — and because no one knew this copy existed.
- The UK's National Archives and US experts are now working to authenticate and conserve the document; it provides a tangible link between the American Revolution and British archives.