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Virginia Military Institute Archives
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The Declaration of Independence engraving, circa 1833-1843. MS 0526. VMI Archives, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia.
Acquired in 1941 via the great-granddaughter of the engraver William J. Stone.
William James Stone (1798-1865), engraver, lithographer, and sculptor, was born in London, England and was brought to the United States as a child in 1804. After studying engraving under Peter Maverick in New York, he established a firm in Washington, D.C. in 1815 where he did a significant amount of work for the federal government. He is best known for his 1823 copper plate engraving of the Declaration of Independence. All subsequent exact facsimiles of the Declaration descend from the Stone plate. The original Stone plate is now preserved in the National Archives.
Subsequent to 1823, Stone made additional printings from his plate, altering the location of the engraver's imprint. The item owned by VMI is an example from one of these subsequent printings (circa 1833-1843) and was held until 1941 by a descendant of the engraver.
This collection consists of one engraving of the Declaration of Independence by William J. Stone. It dates from around the time of the Stone's second printing (circa 1833), and was one of his personal copies. Stone's engravings show both the text and the signatures in facsimile, which are very close in appearance to the original.