Hereby Declaring the Declaration of Independence on Display!

Happy July! As the country looks to celebrate Independence Day, we are joining in by sharing a timely item in our Collection Spotlight case. Visit us throughout the month to see a version of the Declaration of Independence that was printed as part of The Perpetual Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1789.

For previous July celebrations, we’ve shared two other versions of the Declaration found in our collection. Both of these versions were printed less than two weeks after the Declaration was ratified by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.

• A broadside version that was printed by Ezekiel Russell in Salem on July 17, 1776. Read more in our blog post.

• A newspaper version that was printed for The New-England Chronicle by Edward E. Powers and Nathaniel Willis on July 18, 1776. Read more in our blog post.

The version displayed this month was printed a few years later, in 1789 by Adams and Nourse, who were the official printers to the General Court. It is in a volume of the Perpetual Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which, as stated on the title page, were published by the order of the General Court and cover the period from the commencement of the Constitution in October 1780, to the last Wednesday in May, 1789. Prefacing the laws are reprintings of a number of foundational documents. In addition to the displayed Declaration of Independence, there are also printings of the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution of the Commonwealth, the Treaty of Peace between Great Britain and America, and the Constitution of the United States. 

Following the documents, the laws are organized into seven categories: Part 1: The Public and Private Rights of Persons; Part 2: Real and Personal Estate; Part 3: Courts and Forms of Process; Part 4: Criminal Matters; Part 5: Trade and Commerce; Part 6: Taxes, etc.; Part 7: Militia Regulations. It ends with a section of "miscellaneous." This is a comprehensive source representing the state of Massachusetts laws from 1780 through 1789, and if you want to peruse the full text, a digitized copy is available through the Internet Archive.

Visit us from July 1 through August 5 to see this version of the Declaration on display, and best wishes from the State Library for a festive and safe Independence Day!

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

On Display at the State Library

The upcoming July 4th holiday celebrates America’s birthday, the date in 1776 when the Second Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. Here in the State Library, we’re marking the occasion by sharing our copy of the Declaration. We have previously written about and displayed a version printed in The New-England Chronical by Edward Powers and Nathaniel Willis, but now we are excited to share our broadside copy, which was printed by Ezekiel Russell in Salem on July 17, 1776. Visit us throughout the month to see it displayed in our reading room.

After the Second Continental Congress signed off on the final wording of the Declaration, the text was sent to Philadelphia printer John Dunlap, who printed two hundred copies as broadsides. The text was then distributed to the thirteen colonies, where it was printed in newspapers and as broadsides. The version authorized and distributed to printers throughout Massachusetts included the following instructions for further dissemination (for ease of reading, in this transcription the “long s” which is printed as an “f” has been written as an “s”):

“In Council, July 17, 1776. Ordered, That the Declaration of Independence be printed; and a Copy sent to the Ministers of each Parish, of every Denomination, within this State; and that they severally be required to read the same to their respective Congregations, as soon as divine Service is ended, in the afternoon, on the first Lord’s-Day after they shall have received it: --- And after such Publication thereof, to deliver the said Declaration to the Clerks of their several Towns, or Districts; who are hereby required to record the same in their respective Town, or District Books, there to remain as a perpetual Memorial thereof.”

Note that the Council approved this order on July 17, 1776 and that it was sent to Massachusetts printers almost a full two weeks after the Declaration was first ratified. Though we all know that news in the colonial period was not instantaneous like it is today, this lag time emphasizes the duration that it would take for news to spread throughout the colonies. Once printers received it, it was then printed in their own newspapers and as broadsides that were sent to ministers to share with their congregants at the next Sunday service, as described above. In Boston, it was also read from the balcony of the Old State House to crowds gathered below on July 18.

The printer of the displayed broadside, Ezekiel Russell, lived in Salem during a portion of the Revolutionary War and was a prolific publisher. In addition to this broadside, he was also the printer of The American Gazette or The Constitutional Journal. Following the instructions from the broadside, Russell was authorized to print the Declaration at his shop and distribute it to ministers throughout the North Shore. Written in iron gall ink on the back of the broadside is the notation “To the Rev. Mr. Holyoke, Boxford” so we know which congregation received this specific version.

In December 2016, this broadside received conservation treatment at the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC). The broadside was cleaned, tape was removed, and paper tears and losses were filled in with Japanese paper and wheat paste. The result is the beautifully mended and stabilized broadside that we can now safely display. And for those who can’t visit us in person, once the broadside was conserved, NEDCC’s Imaging Services Department provided us with a high-quality digital version which we can share in our digital repository. During the 1700s, broadsides were meant to be printed and distributed quickly to disseminate important information and keeping them intact to save for future generations was not necessarily the objective. We’re lucky to have such a well-preserved version in our collection and hope that you’ll be able to visit us this month to see this inspiring document in person.


By Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian

On Display at the State Library

This July, we’re excited to exhibit a true treasure from our collection, and an integral part of American history. Visit our main reading room throughout the month to see a copy of the Declaration of Independence that was printed for The New-England Chronicle by Edward E. Powers and Nathaniel Willis on July 18, 1776.  

But if the Declaration of Independence signed by delegates of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia on July 4th, then why was it printed in Boston on July 18th – almost two full weeks later? That’s because Bostonians did not hear the stirring words of the Declaration until it was read from the balcony of the Old State House on July 18. And for those who were not part of that large crowd, it was also published in Boston on the same date. Three Boston newspaper publishers--John Gill, Edward E. Powars, and Nathaniel Willis--came together to print the Declaration as a broadside and in newspapers. Similar to modern-day posters, the broadside was a large piece of paper with printing just on one side that was posted and shared throughout the city. To ensure that the news of the Declaration spread even farther, its text was printed in Gill’s Continental Journal and Powars and Willis’ The New-England Chronicle, the copy of which we have in our Special Collections holdings. These are the only two newspapers in Boston that published the Declaration of Independence, though it appeared throughout Massachusetts in newspapers in Newburyport, Watertown, Worcester, and Salem. 

In a previous blog post, we wrote more in-depth about this item. Click here to read more about how the Declaration text traveled from Philadelphia to Boston, an interesting fact about all of the “f”s that make their way into colonial printing, and a note on the items’ condition. 

This July, celebrate America’s birthday by visiting us for the rare opportunity to see a 1776 version of the Declaration of Independence in person! 

Elizabeth Roscio
Preservation Librarian

Declaration of Independence

The Fourth of July is celebrated by Americans as Independence Day. This is considered the nation’s birthday because on July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed proclaiming our independence from Britain.

A copy of the Declaration of Independence can be found in the State Library collection as well as other documents relating to the country’s independence—including a Resolve from the Massachusetts House of Representative from 1776 relating to the possibility of the Congress declaring the colonies to be independent and another from the Colony of Massachusett’s-Bay, in 1776, supporting the war.

Visit the Independence Hall Association’s site at http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/ to find information about the Declaration of Independence and information about the signers. Be sure to compare the terms inalienable and unalienable at: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/unalienable.htm. The Declaration of Independence uses the term “unalienable rights” while some earlier versions use the term “inalienable rights”.

To learn additional facts about the signers of the Declaration of Independence visit http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_signers_gallery.html



Naomi Allen
Reference and Government Documents Departments

Special Event at the State Library, Monday, July 18

On Monday, July 18, 2011, the State Library of Massachusetts will commemorate the earliest public reading in Boston of the Declaration of Independence, first read from the balcony of the Old State House on July 18, 1776.

While we read the Declaration, we will have on display a document from the library’s Special Collections Department: a broadside printed in Salem in July 1776 that gives the full text of the Declaration.

This event is free and open to the public. Please note that the State Library is in the current State House, not the Old State House!

For more information, please call the Special Collections department: 617-727-2595.

Location: Reading Room of the State Library, State House, Room 341

Date: Monday, July 18, 2011

Time: 10am