VERY EARLY AND VERY LARGE BINNS ENGRAVING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 1819, ENTIRELY ENGRAVED WITH FACSIMILE SIGNATURES OF THE SIGNERS, PORTRAITS OF WASHINGTON, JEFFERSON AND HANCOCK, AND THE 13 STATE SEALS

(DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE) BINNS, John, publisher. In Congress, July 4th 1776. The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America. Philadelphia: John Binns, November 4, 1818. Double elephant folio broadside, measuring 24-1/2 by 35-1/2 inches, mounted on board and framed, entire piece measures 41-1/2 by 31 inches.

Beautiful Binns engraving of the Declaration of Independence, with remarkably exact renditions of the signers’ hands. An impressive production, with engraved portraits of Washington, Jefferson and Hancock and the state seals forming an oval surrounding the text of the Declaration in a symbolic representation of national unity.

The Declaration of Independence, the foundation document of the United States, has been printed myriad times since its original publication in 1776. In the period following the War of 1812, Americans began to look back, for the first time with historical perspective, on the era of the founding of the country. The republic was now forty years old, and the generation of the Revolution, including the signers of the Declaration, was passing away. With nostalgia and curiosity, many Americans began to examine the details of the nation’s nascent years. Among other things, such documents as the debates of the Constitutional Convention were published for the first time. Others revisited the Declaration-not the often-reprinted text, but the actual document itself, then preserved in the State Department. They discovered remarkable differences between the original and the published versions. First, the title of the document was different; secondly, the names of the Signers, now revered as the Founders, were omitted in many of the published versions. It seemed extraordinary that this document, in its original form, was relatively unknown to Americans, when the text was so central to the national identity. Several entrepreneurs set out to remedy this gap. The first to do so (and make it into print) was a writing master named Benjamin Owen Tyler, in 1818. He had a close rival, John Binns of Philadelphia.

“Binns was the founder of The Democratic Press, a Republican newspaper. In June 1816, Binns began a list of subscriptions for his publication of ‘a splendid and correct copy of the Declaration of Independence, with facsimiles of all the signatures, the whole to be encircled with the arms of the thirteen States and of the United States.’ Although Binns promised his copy of the Declaration in one year, the enormous scale of its design delayed publication until 1819. Binns employed as many as five artists at one time to assist him with the design. Time was taken to borrow portraits, obtain models for the state seals, and paint the American eagle from life. The finished document was a collaborative effort among designer, artist, engraver, publisher and printer. In response to Tyler’s dedication of his document to Thomas Jefferson, Binns dedicated his print to the people of the United States. In 1819, Binns’ Declaration was printed in Philadelphia by James Porter… Tyler’s engraving cost five dollars on paper and seven on parchment, while Binns charged ten dollars plain and thirteen if colored. The battle between the two men was waged in the newspapers and in the marketplace. The controversy provided both advertising for their engravings and spurred interest in the Declaration as an important document.” (“A Multitude of Amendments, Alterations and Additions,” National Park Service). Bidwell 5.

Only light barely visible restoration, mounted on board, floated and beautifully framed. An exceptionally handsome and rare piece.