Rare printing of Declaration comes to town

Of 26 known copies of the first printing of the Declaration of Independence, three will be in Albemarle County on Wednesday.

The University of Virginia has two, and the third will be a touring copy visiting Monticello.

“[Thomas Jefferson] thought it was his greatest accomplishment,” said Wayne Mogielnicki, Monticello spokesman.

For those who skated through civics class, the Declaration of Independence came more than a year after the first battles of the American Revolution. In it, Americans outlined their case for a nation independent from King George III.

In the process, the document’s authors drafted words that have defined our republic: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

When Jefferson ordered his tombstone, he put the fact that he drafted the document at the top. Rounding out his grave-marker’s list of accomplishments is the creation of UVa and the Virginia statute on the freedom of religion.

The copies aren’t the name-fest that made John Hancock synonymous with signature. Instead, they’re copies printed quickly, starting the evening of July 4, by which news of the momentous decision began to spread. Think of them as the e-mail news alert of the 18th century.

The copy at Monticello will be displayed free of charge in the visitors center. It was purchased by television producer Norman Lear and his wife in 2000 for $8.1 million. It was rediscovered in the 1980s, in the back of a picture frame purchased at a Pennsylvania flea market.

The copy tours around the county, and will also be shown in Virginia Beach and Richmond. Pearson plc, an education and technology company, is sponsoring the show in conjunction with Declare Yourself, a nonprofit encouraging youth voting.

“I know it’s a Wednesday, not a weekend, but we hope to have as many people as possible who are interested coming out to see it,” Mogielnicki said.

The University of Virginia’s copy is also free to view. It’s available in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, near Alderman Library.

Heather Moore Riser, head of reference and research services, called the document the piece de resistance of the collection.

The collection also includes at least one document from every signer of the Declaration.

Mogielnicki said Monticello is an appropriate showplace for Jefferson’s work, which “is something that elevates him, separates him, not just in America but throughout the world.”