Around the time of America’s 1876 centennial celebration, many reprintings of the Declaration circulated for sale. This version includes the full text written in elaborate calligraphy, including letters entwined with foliage and oversize fonts layered atop decorative ribbons. William V. Peacon──an Irish American penmanship artist who emigrated to Brooklyn, New York, around 1865──drew the original design. The Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia included a display of Peacon's original nine-foot-tall drawing, and advertisements for the print appeared in newspapers from Maine to Nevada. Gift of David Doret and Linda Mitchell.
Publication / Creation Year
1876