Letterpress Printer Rob Buchert Produces “Most Accurate” Dunlap Broadside Reproduction
Utah artist Rob Buchert examines a freshly printed sheet of his recreation of the 1776 Declaration of Independence from the press. Every copy was printed one sheet at a time, by hand, on paper he made himself using 18th century methods
Philadelphia printer John Dunlap set the Declaration of Independence in type and printed an estimated 200 copies on the night of July 4, 1776, which spread the news of independence.
"As the effective 'Birth Certificate' of the nation, the Dunlap Broadside has attracted the attention of publishers and printing offices over the years," said Tryst Press co-founder Rob Buchert, who set out to make the "most accurate" possible reproduction earlier this year. "None combines handmade period paper with a matched watermark and letter-by-letter type composition drawn from period specimens.
"My reproduction recapitulates the original creation process, producing something far closer to what those first readers across the colonies actually held, a freshly printed broadside on new paper, ink still sharp, carrying the news of independence. It is also a tribute to what is easy to forget about Dunlap’s overnight work, that it was not merely functional but genuinely beautiful. I have sought to honor that beauty, not improve upon it."
Buchert's hand-printed recreation uses paper made by hand using period-appropriate flax and hemp fibers, with type set letter by letter against the original, the ink blended to match 18th century presswork.
Copies are available at www.declaration250.shop.
![Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–253) Homilia in Genesim, Homiliae in Exodum, in Latin, translation by Rufinus, decorated manuscript on parchment [Austria, Lambach Abbey? c. 1150–1175]. Estimate: $150,000-$200,000.](/sites/default/files/styles/category_card/public/media-images/2026-06/origen.jpeg?itok=0V_4_Lt2)
