07/04/2026
One of only 9 copies known to still exist, this is The Library Company’s copy of the Goddard Broadside. Shared here to celebrate America’s 250th, the Goddard Broadside is notable for being both the first printing of the Declaration of Independence to include the names of the signers and for being printed by a woman, Mary Kathrine Goddard.
While we tend to think of the signed parchment held in the National Archives as "The" Declaration of Independence, that document was not approved for creation until July 19th, 1776. In fact, as with most information in the Revolutionary era, colonists primarily encountered the Declaration in print. Upon the approval of revisions to the drafted Declaration of Independence on July 4th, the Continental Congress commissioned John Dunlap to print copies of the Declaration, which were then sent out to each of the 13 colonies.
From there, the word of independence spread through printed broadsides, newspaper reprints, and public readings from printed copies. These first print copies of the Declaration did not include the names of the signers - only Continental Congress president John Hancock’s - as the document for them to sign did not yet exist. Once the parchment copy was written up, signers added their names to the document throughout the summer of ‘76 as they came through Philadelphia. In January of 1777, Congress commissioned Mary Kathrine Goddard, a respected printer and postmistress in Baltimore, to produce an updated Declaration broadside with the signees for distribution to the states.
Works cited:
Early American Women Printers and Publishers 1639-1820 by Leona M. Hudak
The Declaration’s Journey by Philip C. Mead, Emily Sneff, Amy Noel Ellison, and Matthew Skic
“America’s Founding Documents" from the National Archives Website
