Researchers in Britain have discovered a rare original copy of the U.S.Declaration of Independence, just as Americans are getting ready tomark July 4 Independence Day holiday.

Officials at the NationalArchives in London say the poster-sized document was hidden amongcorrespondence from U.S. colonists. They say a local researcherdiscovered it by chance.

Researchers say the so-called Dunlapprint is believed to be one of about 200 printed on July 4, 1776. These first copies of the Declaration of Independence were delivered toU.S. political leaders the next day.

Only a handful of thecopies, named after printer John Dunlap, are known to have survived. The last known Dunlap print sold at an auction in 2000 for more than $8million.

The Declaration of Independence formally announcedthe decision of the American colonists to break away from Britain. Researchers are not certain how the Dunlap copy ended up in Britain'sNational Archives.

Meanwhile, a London auction house is givingart lovers a chance to mark U.S. independence with a rare sculpture ofGeorge Washington. Sotheby's is auctioning off a life-sized bust ofthe first U.S. president on July 9. The auction house expects it tosell for a minimum of about $500,000.

Sotheby's says French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon created the bust after visiting America in 1785 to study Mr. Washington.


Some information for this report was provided by AP.