The document, signed in front of you
The engrossed Declaration, whole: the text word for word as the parchment carries it, and the fifty-six hands written onto it one after another in the order the roll was signed — Hancock alone beneath the last line, then the delegations in the six columns the sheet actually has, Georgia at the left and New England at the right. Nothing is set in a font. Every hand is a trace of the man's own.
The record
- Text: National Archives, "Declaration of Independence: A Transcription" (transcript of the engrossed parchment), retrieved 2026-08-20 — archives.gov.
- Hands: vector traces of archival scans on Wikimedia Commons, retrieved 2026-08-20. Each source travels with its hand on The Signing.
- Placement: the column order and Hancock's position are the parchment's own; Matthew Thornton sits at the foot of the last column, where he signed late.
- The next instrument the states wrote is on The Roll — the Articles of Confederation, six skins stitched together.