Colonial Williamsburg will display ten examples of signatures from signers of the Declaration of Independence and a rare 1823 “Stone” copy of the Declaration in “Principles of Freedom: The Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution” from May 7 to February 2006 at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum.

Part of the Pat and Jerry B. Epstein American History Document Collection, this exceptional selection of objects comprises one of the most significant private collections of US historical documents ever assembled.

The original parchment Declaration of Independence was on the move for several years after its creation in 1776 and until the end of the Revolutionary War. During that period, it remained in the custody of the Continental Congress and traveled to locations in Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey before coming to rest in Washington, D.C., in the safekeeping of the new federal government established under the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. In 1814, the evacuation of Washington once again required the temporary removal of the Declaration, this time to Leesburg, Va.

In 1820, then Secretary of State John Quincy Adams commissioned William J. Stone 1798-1865, a Washington-based engraver, to create an official facsimile of the Declaration, since the original parchment had become extremely fragile over the years from its myriad travels and repeated rolling and unrolling. Stone painstakingly engraved the text onto a copper plate and produced 201 parchment copies. Of these, only 31 have been located.

In addition to the Stone Declaration and documents bearing the signatures of the signers such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, “Principle of Freedom” will feature medals, currency, portraits and other patriotic objects from the Colonial Williamsburg collection.

The museum is on Francis Street near Merchants Square and is open daily 11 am to 5 pm January to mid-March and 10 am to 7 pm mid-March to January. For information, 757-220-7724.

Established in 1926, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is the not-for-profit educational institution that preserves and operates the restored Eighteenth Century capital of Virginia.

For information or reservations, 800-HISTORY.