A Surprise Declaration of Independence

Just in time for the Fourth of July holiday, a researcher found an original first print of the Declaration of Independence -- in England’s National Archives.

According to the UK’s Daily Mail, the copy, which is in near-perfect condition, was found by an American antiquarian bookseller doing unrelated research at the National Archives in London. The nearly 250-year-old document was stuffed into a file of colonists’ correspondence the Brits had intercepted in the 18th century.

The poster-size proclamation is one of only 26 surviving copies of the first print run of 200, made by printer John Dunlap. It’s estimated worth is about $7.5 million. (Put your checkbooks away, though -- the National Archives isn’t selling it.)

The last time a Dunlap print was discovered? In a flea market in 1989.