DECLARE
A Civic Gospel
An Arion Press Publication
A closer look at the world surrounding the book—its making, its makers, and the ideas it sets in motion.
Craftsmanship, conversations, and collaborators come into focus here, alongside the programs and events that carry the work beyond the page.
SAN FRANCISCO
Declare Launch
Event at Arion Press
June 13, 2026
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NEW YORK
Declare Launch
at New York Historical Society
September, 23, 2026
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CHICAGO
Declare Launch
at Ravenswood Event Center
November 20, 2026
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THE BOOK
The Declaration of Independence was first published as a letterpress broadside by John Dunlap in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.
The document that founded a nation was ratified through an act of printing. Printed overnight and circulated to the colonies, the Dunlap broadside established the text that would define the nation.
Two hundred and fifty years later, Arion Press has partnered with Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello to honor that legacy.
Limited to 250 copies, this edition is handcrafted and printed by letterpress at Arion Press in San Francisco—the last facility of its kind in the United States, where books are made entirely by hand.
The edition includes a letterpress-printed reinterpretation of the original Declaration broadside, ten wooden medallions engraved with imagery by leading American artists, and a volume of new writing by visionary American authors reflecting on the Declaration today.
Declare: A Civic Gospel invites a symphony of leading American voices—visionary poets, essayists, novelists, artists, designers, and craftspeople—to honor the Declaration’s past and imagine its future.
THE WRITERS
THE ARTISTS
THE WOOD
Adding to the material depth of the edition is the historic wood used to craft the medallions. These elements are carved from iconic tulip poplar trees planted by residents enslaved at Monticello during Jefferson's lifetime, and eventually memorialized on the back of the two-dollar bill. The wood from those trees takes on a new life and meaning in this novel context.