A rare copy of the United States Declaration of Independence, printed in Exeter, New Hampshire, has been discovered in the British National Archives.

在英國國家檔案館中，發現了一份在紐罕普郡埃克塞特印刷的罕見美國《獨立宣言》副本。

The document was found in May by Michael Scurr, a volunteer, while he was examining letters from Captain Thomas Fitzherbert of the HMS Raisonnable. The paper was among items taken on December 24, 1776, from the Dalton, an American privateer ship. The Dalton had been captured off the coast of Portugal after a seven-hour chase, which led to the imprisonment of about 120 crew members in Plymouth, England.

這份文件是今年五月由一名叫 Michael Scurr 的志願者發現的，當時他正在檢查 HMS Raisonnable 號的 Thomas Fitzherbert 船長的信件。這張紙是在 1776 年 12 月 24 日，從一艘名為 Dalton 號的美國私掠船上沒收的物品中發現的。Dalton 號在葡萄牙海岸附近經過七小時的追逐後被捕獲，導致約 120 名船員被囚禁在英國的普利茅斯。

These Exeter versions were printed by Robert Luis Fowle in July 1776. Because they were printed on low-quality paper and meant to be used as temporary news sheets, very few have survived. Before this discovery, only ten copies were known to exist, and all of them were in the United States. Consequently, this is the only known Exeter printing located outside of America.

這些埃克塞特版本是由 Robert Luis Fowle 於 1776 年 7 月印刷的。由於它們是以低品質的紙張印刷，且旨在作為臨時新聞單使用，因此倖存的數量極少。在這次發現之前，已知僅有十份副本存在，且全部都在美國。因此，這是目前唯一已知位於美國以外的埃克塞特印刷版本。

Experts believe the document was on the ship to motivate the crew. Amanda Bevan, who leads the Royal Navy correspondence project, suggested that the Declaration might have been read aloud to align the sailors' actions with the political goals of the new American state. Furthermore, Professor Nicholas Guyatt from the University of Cambridge noted that the document remained hidden for so long because British naval officers likely did not think it was important at the time it was captured.

專家認為該文件在船上是用來激勵船員的。負責皇家海軍書信項目的 Amanda Bevan 認為，《獨立宣言》當時可能被大聲朗讀，以便讓水手們的行動與新美國政府的政治目標保持一致。此外，劍橋大學的 Nicholas Guyatt 教授指出，這份文件之所以隱藏這麼久，是因為英國海軍軍官在捕獲時可能認為它並不重要。

This discovery provides a physical link to the naval history of the American Revolution and proves that searching through physical archives is still a valuable way to find historical treasures.

這次發現為美國革命的海軍歷史提供了實體聯繫，並證明了在實體檔案中搜尋仍然是發現歷史瑰寶的價值之法。