Rare U.S. Declaration of Independence Copy Seized by British Navy Found After 250 Years

Only 11 Exeter, New Hampshire Prints Remain
Discovered by a Volunteer at the National Archives

A rare copy of the United States Declaration of Independence, seized by the British Navy during the American Revolutionary War, has been discovered in the United Kingdom after 250 years.

According to Yonhap News on July 3, the National Archives of the United Kingdom unveiled on July 2 (local time), just two days before the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a printed copy produced in Exeter, New Hampshire, between July 16 and 19, 1776, which was seized by the British Navy on December 24 of the same year.

Newly discovered New Hampshire Exeter print in the UK. AP Yonhap News.

After the news spread on July 4, 1776, that the 13 British colonies in North America had declared independence at the Continental Congress, copies of the Declaration of Independence were printed in each colony. The recently discovered copy is one of only 11 surviving Exeter, New Hampshire prints, and it is the only known copy found outside the United States. One of the Exeter prints was sold at auction this January for $5,687,000 (approximately 8.7 billion won).

This copy was among documents seized on Christmas Eve 1776 when the Dalton, a privately armed vessel supporting the Continental Army, was captured by the British warship HMS Reasonable after a seven-hour chase near Cape Finisterre, Spain. At the time, Captain Thomas Fitzherbert sent the seized documents to the Admiralty, simply folding the Declaration of Independence print and labeling it as "another paper." As a result, after being transferred to the National Archives, it remained buried among 18th-century documents for a long time.

The existence of this document resurfaced thanks to Michael Scurr, a volunteer who was assisting with the organization and classification of old documents this past May. Scurr, who retired from an insurance firm and has been volunteering at the National Archives for 11 years, told AP, "My heart was pounding when I found it. I thought, 'Oh, wow. Yes, this is definitely the Declaration of Independence.'"

Dunlap First Edition of the United States Declaration of Independence on display at The National Archives in the UK. Photo by AFP News Agency

Researchers at the National Archives believe that the crew of the Dalton likely read the Declaration of Independence aloud during their voyage to boost morale.

The National Archives of the United Kingdom also holds a "Dunlap Broadside," one of the rare first edition prints of the Declaration of Independence produced by John Dunlap in Philadelphia immediately after the declaration on July 4, 1776. Only 26 copies of this edition are known to exist. The National Archives is exhibiting this Dunlap print as part of its U.S. Independence 250th anniversary exhibition, which runs through November.

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