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Rare copy of US Declaration of Independence found by volunteer in UK archives
BBC • • nation
Key Points:
- A rare copy of the Declaration of Independence, printed in Exeter, New Hampshire in July 1776, has been discovered at The National Archives in Kew, marking the only known example outside the US.
- The document was found by volunteer Michael Scurr in February while cataloguing papers from Royal Navy captains involved in the American Revolutionary War.
- This copy was seized by the Royal Navy on Christmas Eve 1776 after capturing the American ship Dalton off Portugal, and it had remained hidden in UK archives for centuries.
- The Declaration is one of only 11 surviving copies from the first New Hampshire printings and is the only known copy taken by military action.
- After conservation, the document will be displayed in The National Archives' exhibition "Revolution 250: America's Independence Story, 1763-1783," alongside other original copies of the Declaration.
