Autographs
Beautiful Printing of Peter Force’s Historic Rice Paper “Declaration of Independence” From “American Archives”
(DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE) (1843) Peter Force Printing, From the Original Plate with “W.J. Stone SC. WASHn.” Imprint. Crisp Rice Paper. Choice Extremely Fine.
This is a highly important opportunity to obtain one of the best and earliest, original copies of one of America’s greatest document. This original, very beautiful and impressive, crisp rice paper copy of The Declaration of Independence, measures its full 28.25” high x 25.75” wide size (by sight). This example is matted and framed with a special inset engraved plaque below, the Declaration itself being under archival Plexiglas measuring fully to 33” wide x 42” tall and is one of the nicest printings we’ve handled having been removed from its book for display. Slight creases in the rice paper, with folds from its original folded position within the American Archives book, thin added vertical strip of matching paper along the bottom right edge for proper framing. Absolutely authentic. It has the “W.J. Stone SC. WASHn.” plate imprint at the lower left. This excellent example is housed in a high quality doubled matted gilded wooden frame that is ready to hang prominently on display.

In 1843, Peter Force used the original Stone copperplate to print additional copies of the Declaration of Independence on rice paper for inclusion in Volume I of his multi-volume book, “American Archives”. Congress authorized up to 1,500 copies of that book to be printed, but subscriptions fell far short of that number. The actual number of copies printed is unknown, with estimates ranging from about 500 copies to upwards of 1,000 copies of which a fire destroyed most. All examples of the rice paper Declaration were folded for insertion in the inside front cover of Volume I of the Fifth Series, but today most have been removed. It is not known how many of the rice paper copies could have survived. Speculation suggests estimates of fewer than half of this printing have survived, in varying states of preservation.

The Stone and Force copies represent a double-edged sword. Certainly, they allowed additional people and institutions to obtain an identical facsimile of this most beloved of all historic American documents, but Stone’s Wet-Ink transfer process contributed to the deterioration of the original signed copy of the Declaration. Parchment does not respond well to water. The unfortunate result is that the Declaration of Independence, now on display in Washington, DC, is a rather sad-looking, faded document. Conversely, the Stone and Force printings that have survived are much nicer in appearance and they generally retain the fresh well printed appearance with which the original was once endowed.


Recently a similar but earlier 1823 Broadside printing of Declaration of Independence brought $597,500! With a price worthy of its historic stature, a recently discovered 1823 printing of the Declaration of Independence, painstakingly engraved and printed by William Stone to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the founding of The United States, sold for $597,500 – more than doubling its presale estimate. It was purchased by an anonymous East Coast buyer and was considered the centerpiece of Heritage Auctions' historical manuscripts auction.

In 1820, English-born engraver William J. Stone of Washington, D.C. was commissioned to produce an exact copy of the original Declaration of Independence onto a copperplate, a process which took him three years to complete,” said Sandra Palomino, Director of Historic Manuscripts at Heritage. “It was almost 45 years after the Revolution, only six years after the War of 1812 and smack dab in the middle of President James Monroe’s ‘Era of Good Feelings,’ the most significant period of growth in the young nation’s history up to that point. Interest in the Declaration surged.”

In all, 200 official parchment copies were struck from the Stone plate in 1823, with one extra struck for Stone himself. Each copy is identified as “ENGRAVED by W. I. STONE for the Dept of State, by order” in the upper left corner, followed by “of J. Q. ADAMS, Sect. of State July 4th 1824” in the upper right.

“We know from a 1991 census of the manuscripts that there 31 total known to survive, with only 12 copies in private hands,” said Palomino. “This auction represented a singular chance for someone to acquire a prime piece of American history and collectors jumped at the chance.” Overall, choice pieces of Early American History were greatly in demand at the auction.