Name: The Texas Declaration of Independence
Brand: by George Childress (principal author)
Price: 54.95 USD
Availability: InStock

70.00 54.95

Quantity

True to the Original

Every Texas Independence Day we send out an email with the entire text of the Texas Declaration of Independence. All 1445 words.

It's a fine way to celebrate the day and honor the men who risked their lives and sacred honor to make Texas free.

It always has one of the largest readerships of any message. Every year our readers forward it to over 20,000 of their friends and family members.

When we first did it people asked where they could get a copy to hang on their wall.

So we looked into it and here's what we found: there are lots of facsimiles available, but they are uniformly small, somewhat crudely printed, and hard to read. That's not surprising if you know the history of the original document.

When the declaration was finished and signed at Washington-on-the-Brazos, a rider was dispatched to San Felipe de Austin with a handwritten copy. Gail Borden worked through the night to set the type and print a hundred copies on 13 by 16 inch paper. Borden used the same small type he used to print his newspaper, the Telegraph & Texas Register.

Unseen by Texan Eyes

Before 1944, almost no one in Texas had ever seen what one of those original printings looked like. That was the year Lou Kemp completed his book on the signers.

He wanted something special to give away with the limited edition of the book, so Andrew Jackson Houston allowed his father's copy to be photographed to produce a facsimile.

All the reproductions you find today are third and fourth generation copies to Lou Kemp's facsimile. And it shows.

The problem is this: out of those 100 copies printed by Borden, there are only 12 still in existence and only 2 remain in private hands. None of the owners are in a hurry to hand over their million dollar document to be scanned or photographed to create better facsimiles.

So here's what we did:

We completely re-typeset the declaration, being careful to keep the form true to the original. Each line is of the correct character length, every comma is in place and period spelling is retained.

The only difference is we made it bigger. 18 by 24 inches with columns over four inches wide. The type is clean, clear and legible.

There's just one problem. It makes a statement. Hang it on your wall and people will never stop asking you about it.

Physical Details

18 by 24 inches
Open Edition Print
On 100% cotton watercolor paper

This is a high quality giclee print.

The paper is acid free, cold press cotton watercolor with an elegant ever so lightly textured finish. This surface allows the inks to 'bite', producing beautiful shading and tonality.

The inks are guaranteed color-fast for 80 years, which means you won't need to lay out the extra money for UV glass. You can hang your print in direct sun and it will be just as bright when they are passed on to the next generation it is the day it ships.

It's an instant heirloom. Get yours before they're gone...and get one to give to a friend. He'll owe you!

Shipping

Shipping is $5 for this item.
Allow two weeks for delivery.
Ships in a sturdy tube.

Guarantee

We will gladly buy it back if you decide you don't want it anymore. There's no time limit on that.