A Commemorative Engraving

Tyler Engraving

University of Virginia Library

This commemorative engraving of the Declaration of Independence was one of approximately 1,700 copies published by Benjamin Owen Tyler in 1818. Up to this point all mass produced copies of the Declaration were typeset on a printing press. Tyler's engraving was considered the "first correct copy," which enabled individual Americans to possess a reproduction designed to look like the famous handwritten version with all 56 signatures.

Thanks in part to Tyler's ledger, now held by the University of Virginia we know that presidents from John Adams to John Quincy Adams all received copies. The Stone family purchased a copy the year it was published. The Stones displayed their copy in the East Room of the house. However, its placement in an area with direct sunlight, coupled with smoke from a nearby fireplace, as well as silverfish infestation caused discoloration and damage to the document which is still evident today. When the Stone family sold the property in 1936, they took all of the family items, including the engraving of the Declaration of Independence with them.

On January 1, 1977, fire gutted the central area of the house. The owner sold the house and acreage around the house to the National Park Service. The agency undertook a large decade-long project to rebuild the house. Prior to the opening of the house to the public in 1996, along with other family items, the Stone family donated the engraved Tyler Declaration to the National Park Service. In 2019, the two-century old document was sent to a conservator (a person who restores, repairs, and preserves works of art) due to its fragile condition. A copy was made of the document and installed in place of the original. The original is now housed in the park's collections storage facility.