Michael Scurr, a retired insurance broker and volunteer archivist at the National Archives in Kew, west London, discovered a "vanishingly rare" 1776 printing of the US Declaration of Independence. It is one of just 11 known copies and the only one located outside the United States.
Scurr made the find on what he described as a "boring, old Thursday morning" in May while combing through old captains' papers. He had to keep the discovery secret from fellow volunteers, friends, and family for over a month as historians verified the document.
Discovery Details
While examining a letter with numerous enclosures, Scurr unfolded a document bearing the word "Declaration" in large letters at the top. He immediately alerted his supervisor, Bruno. The document had been stashed among state papers seized by the Royal Navy when it captured the American privateer Dalton on Christmas Eve 1776.
This Exeter, New Hampshire printing was produced to spread news of independence quickly across British colonies and rally support for the revolutionary cause. It is signed by John Hancock, a US founding father and president of the Continental Congress.
Significance of the Find
Dr. Graham Moore, a curator at the National Archives, emphasized the rarity: "We have a lot of copies of the Declaration of various types, but this one is so interesting because it's new to us and there are only 11 of this Exeter Declaration in the world." The National Archives already holds three official printings, but none as rare as this.
Saul Nassé, chief executive of the National Archives, called it "a vanishingly rare surviving copy" and "a powerful reminder that the history of the American Revolution is fundamentally transatlantic."
Preservation and Display
Following conservation work to smooth creases, the document will be displayed at the Archive's Revolution 250 exhibition, covering America's independence from 1763 to 1783.
