Washington Post – no paywall: “Why the nation’s founding document is marred by stains, a mysterious handprint. The physical journey of the Declaration of Independence tells its own story. Its imperfections and endurance reflect those of the America it helped create…Two and a half centuries ago, the newborn United States did not yet reflect the “self-evident” truths that “all men are created equal,” with rights that included “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Nearly three-quarters of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were slaveholders. And only property-owning men had the right to vote. But the power of the Declaration impelled the country toward making what it espoused a reality…The people entrusted to take care of the Declaration had two duties that were often in conflict: preserving it and making it accessible to the Americans who owned it. Many of their well-intentioned efforts only rendered it more delicate. By 1820, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams was so alarmed by the document’s physical decline that he commissioned master engraver William J. Stone to make an exact copy. But the process of producing the facsimile — creating a copperplate through a “wet sheet transfer” from the parchment — lifted much of the original ink. Fewer than 50 of Stone’s roughly 200 copies are known to exist; billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein has bought nine, according to his spokesman. In an interview, Rubenstein said he acquired the most recent from a descendant of James Madison, its original owner. “They degraded it purposely to make these replica copies, and so that’s why it’s so degraded now,” Rubenstein said…”