No photos for this posting, because they weren't allowed. For about 20 days around July 4th, the NYPL displays Thomas Jefferson's "Fair Copy of the Declaration of Independence". Jefferson presented his finished draft of the Declaration to the Continental Congress on July 1, 1776, but before it was ratified on July 4, a number of alterations, deletions, and changes were made. We saw the original document in Jefferson's OWN HANDWRITING (his handwriting was very neat, and the "o"s were really round!). Several places had words underlined--these passages were changed for the final document. In addition, we saw original handbills from various cities that were the first publications of the declaration after it was ratified.
One section that was deleted from his original document was his condemnation of slavery.
Ok, you may think I am a little "gaga" over this history stuff, but I get it "naturally"--- my father took us to most EVERY historical site and Confederate battleground east of the Mississippi while I was growing up. But we never saw any originals of the Declaration!!
This post is called this "in the skin" because as a child, my grandparents took me to First Baptist Church of Columbia where Strom Thurman was a member. One Sunday I saw him in attendance, and I told my parents---- I saw him "in the skin" (vs. on TV).... Now I have seen The Declaration of Independence "in the skin". (If you don't know who Strom is, you better google him!)
To give you an idea of what the NYPL wants to convey about the doc: It isn't only it's historical significance.... they say
"The library is privileged to safeguard a number of landmark versions of the Declaration. It is one of the great documents of human intellect". Once again, we see that NYC prides itself as a beacon of intellect and art...in addition to commerce.
