First Printing of the Constitution of the United States of America with Sotheby's Selby Kiffer

See the two founding documents of the United States of America together, for one day only, at the Dallas Public Library! 

An extremely rare official first-edition printed copy of the United States Constitution, as adopted by America's founding fathers at a convention in Philadelphia in 1787, will be on display alongside its companion document – an original broadside printing of the Declaration of Independence, which is a permanent exhibit on the 7^th floor of the Dallas Public Library. 

The United States Declaration of Independence is the pronouncement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1776, in which the colonies declared their independence from England.  “This is the first time the words ‘The United States of America’ appeared in print,” says Jo Guidice, director of the Dallas Public Library.

The broadside was created when on the night of July 4, 1776 when Thomas Jefferson visited a printer named John Dunlap and asked him to commit treason by printing about 200 copies of the Declaration. Only 26 extant copies are known to exist today, and the Dallas Public Library copy is the only one on display west of the Mississippi River.

The Constitution put into law the promise of the Declaration of Independence and marks the final step in our country’s transformation from a British colony to the United States of America.  On display alongside the Declaration, for one day only, will be the “Official Edition” of the Constitution, which is the first printing of the final text of the document. Printed in an edition of about 500 copies by John Dunlap and David Claypoole, the official printers to the Continental Convention, only 11 copies are now known to exist, and of those, only this copy is in private hands.  It is scheduled to be auctioned at Sotheby’s on November 18^th. 

This exhibit is free and open to the public from 10am to 5pm.