Rare Copy Of The Declaration Of Independence On Display In Bucks County
WARWICK, Pa. (CBS) - An unusual and rare piece of American history will be on display this Monday, The Fourth of July, between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the Moland House in Warwick, Bucks County.
Noted Bucks County historian Tom Lingenfelter found out a few years ago that he had a nearly flawless copy of the now unreadable original Declaration of Independence. Lingenfelter bought the document at a flea market two decades ago, but didn't realize what he had until recently.
"I did some research on the words that were on it. It said 'anastatic facsimile' and I realized that this was a direct copy from the original. Nobody looked for it because nobody knew it existed until I just happened to stumble on it."
He says it was that anastatic process of copying the original Declaration in the mid-1840s that created its deteriorated condition. A second anastatic copy, he says, is housed at Independence Hall but is not on display.
He hopes to take his copy on a national tour to give Americans a chance to see this important piece of history.
Reported by Brad Segall, KYW Newsradio
