Mystery of Anonymous Declaration of Independence Broadside Possibly Solved

A 250-year-old mystery surrounding an anonymous broadside edition of the Declaration of Independence may have been solved. Scholars had identified about 17 distinct broadside editions printed across the American colonies in July and August 1776, typically in runs of hundreds of copies. One of these editions had remained anonymous until now. The New York Times reported on June 5, 2026, that researchers may have identified the printer behind this unsigned version, possibly linking it to Samuel Loudon, a New York printer. The discovery sheds new light on the dissemination of the Declaration in the early days of the American Revolution.