Rare copy of Declaration of Independence found by UK National Archives in papers of captured US ship

A rare early copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, printed in Exeter in July 1776, was discovered by UK National Archives volunteer Michael Scurr in the papers of an 18th-century Royal Navy captain. The document, one of 11 known Exeter printings and the only one found outside the U.S., was attached to a report on the capture of the American privateer Dalton in 1776.