1841 Scarce Miniature “Declaration of Independence” Engraving, by D. Kimberly, Franklin Print Co., Published by James Fisher, Boston, Trumbull Composition, Full Text, 56 Facsimile Signatures with Miniature Portraits, Presidential Portraits, State Arms Medallions, Very Fine.
This visually impressive engraving measures 14.0" x 10.0" overall and presents an extraordinary amount of patriotic content within a single ornately decorated sheet. This engraving throughout displays in fine detail and with strong contrast in the central “John Trumbull” scene. It has dense dark printed text passages, and the elaborate surrounding decorative border. It represents one of the most artistically ambitious and comprehensively documented decorative editions produced during the Antebellum period.

The printed sheet shows slight overall age-consistent tone with a faint band across the middle likely previously framed with a wooden support behind, while the printed and engraved content retaining strong overall strength and legibility throughout. A quite magnificent and comprehensively designed example of the Miniature “Declaration of Independence”, combining the Trumbull Declaration scene, the complete text, and all 56 facsimile signatures with miniature portrait “keys”, plus the State Arms, and the Presidential Portraits within a single decorative composition.

Another example of this exact piece, a 1841 Declaration of Independence engraving by D. Kimberly, printed by the Franklin Print Co., with the Signers identified via the numbered key chart, sold at Case Antiques, Inc. Auctions & Appraisals on January 25, 2025, for $1,800 hammer. That copy was stated to be in less-than-ideal condition as it had been trimmed, and showed wear, losses, and staining, with a smaller image size. Our current example is in superior quality and would show well if framed for display.
The DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, stands as the foundational charter of American nationhood. The present engraving, is known to collectors as the Miniature Declaration of Independence. It represents one of the most artistically ambitious and comprehensively documented decorative editions of the document produced during the antebellum period.

It combines within a single sheet, nearly every element of Patriotic iconography associated with the American founding in remarkably compact and detailed form. The composition at center reproduces JOHN TRUMBULL's celebrated Painting of the presentation of the draft Declaration to the Continental Congress, the same composition that hangs in the United States Capitol Rotunda. It depicting the Committee of Five presenting their work to John Hancock as the assembled delegates look on.

Below this scene appears the complete text of the Declaration, headed: "In Congress, July 4th 1776, The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America." Beneath the text, all 56 Signers are identified by facsimile signatures and keyed by number in a systematic numbered chart, allowing the viewer to correlate each signature with a small numbered miniature portrait silhouette arranged in profile rows at the very bottom of the sheet.

Theat defining feature that gives this historic print its collector's name, and distinguishes it from all other decorative Declaration editions of the period.

Surrounding this central composition is an elaborate decorative border of carved oak leaf and acorn scrollwork in the rococo revival taste, within which are set, across the top, portrait medallions of the early Presidents of the United States in profile, and down both sides and across the bottom, a series of circular vignettes depicting the coats of arms of the various states, each labeled by abbreviation. At the very top, beneath the legend "E Pluribus Unum" on a ribboned banner, a spread-winged American Eagle surmounts the entire composition.

A decorative title cartouche at the lower center reads: "The Declaration of Independence, with Fac-Similes of the Signatures of the Signers and Likenesses of the Signers, the Arms of the States, and of the United States, and Portraits of the Presidents," with the publisher's imprint "Published by James Fisher, 71 Court St., Boston." The lower margin bears the engraving credit "Engraved by D. Kimberly," the copyright notice, "Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1841, by the Franklin Print Co. in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts," and the lettering credit "The Lettering by J.B. Bolton."
[Antebellum Period, Declaration of Independence Signers, Founding Fathers] [John Trumbull, American Portraiture, Presidential History] [Engravings, Prints, Printed Americana]