The document is one of only 11 known copies of the so-called Exeter printing of the Declaration of Independence. Photo courtesy the British National Archives
July 3 (UPI) -- A rare copy of the Declaration of Independence printed in 1776 has been found in London, making it the only known example of the so-called Exeter printing to exist outside the United States, the British National Archives announced Friday.
The document is one of only 11 known copies of the Declaration of Independence to be printed in Exeter, N.H., in the days after it was formally adopted July 4, 1776. It was printed between July 16 and 19, 1776, with the purpose of spreading the news of independence across the colonies.
Graham Moore, the curator of the National Archives' Revolution 250 exhibit, said the document is so rare because it wasn't printed to be preserved but to be distributed quickly and widely.
The document in question was seized among papers aboard the American ship Dalton by Britain's navy on Christmas Eve in 1776, the National Archives said in a release.
