Intima Press ~ New York
(Mindy Belloff)

The Unanimous
Declaration of Independenc
June 4, 1776
By Mindy Belloff
New York: Intima Press, 2009. Edition of 100.

Two broadsides: Goddard's "Declaration of Independence"; essays regarding the Goddard "Declaration of Independence". Each: 20 x 16", single sheet. Handset in Caslon. Letterpress printed on handmade cotton and linen paper. Printed in two color letterpress. Set in archival portfolio (21 x 17.5" closed, 21 x 35" open) with paper title on front cover.

Intima Press: "Artist Mindy Belloff is the first contemporary printer to recreate the 1777 world changing Declaration of Independence, as originally printed by a woman, Mary Katharine Goddard. Although this was the second letterpress printing, it was the first printing of the Declaration to reveal the names of its signers and was titled the 'Unanimous' Declaration, as New York had finally cast its vote.

"On July 4th, 1776, Congress authorized the first printing of the Declaration of Independence by John Dunlap. Two weeks later it ordered an engrossed manuscript copy on parchment for the representatives to sign. On January 18, 1777, Congress commissioned Mary Katharine Goddard to print a copy of the Declaration for each of the 13 newly formed colonies. Most people are not aware of this first printing by a woman. While there have been numerous facsimiles of the Dunlap document over the past two centuries, until now there had been no reprinting of the 1777 Goddard Broadside.

"Mary Katharine Goddard was born in 1738. Her family was in the printing business. Mary K. printed newspapers in Providence, Philadelphia, and finally settled in Maryland. In addition to being a journalist and printer producing a weekly newspaper, she was appointed the first woman Postmistress of Baltimore, a position she held for 14 years. By printing the Declaration and boldly adding her own name to the bottom of the document along with those of the Founding Fathers, Goddard put herself at great risk for treason and possible death. She was clearly a proponent of freedom of speech. Only nine known copies of the Goddard Broadside exist today.

"To honor Mary Katharine ... Mindy Belloff of Intima Press reproduced Goddard's elegant two-column design in August of 2009. She hand set over 7,500 characters in Caslon typeface (as the original), and letterpress printed them one at a time on paper made specifically for the historic re-creation. ... A printed sheet of essays in blue and red on white paper, includes text by the artist with an introduction by David Armitage, Professor of History, Harvard University and author of The Declaration of Independence: A Global History, and an essay by Martha J. King, Historian of early America. ..

Two Versions available:

• Accurate Historic Facsimile as originally designed & printed by Mary Katharine Goddard.
  2009. Edition of 100. Letterpress printed on hand made cotton and linen paper. $650
• Contemporary Rewriting by Mindy Belloff. Based on the design and printing by Mary Katherine Goddard.
  2010. Edition of 118. Letterpress printed on handmade 100% cotton bright white paper. The 'long-s' characters were replaced by regular 's' characters and John Hancock's signature was printed in a light blue ink instead of a sepia color. However, what distinguishes this edition is the word 'People' in two places, replacing the original "Men."

$500