CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – As the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence approaches on July 4, 2026, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello is proud to announce Declare: A Civic Gospel, an ambitious collaborative publishing project and a cornerstone of its semiquincentennial programming. Edited and introduced by Monticello president and acclaimed historian Dr. Jane Kamensky, Declare brings together essays, poems, and original artwork created by a luminous cast of thinkers and makers. Published as a landmark fine art book by San Francisco’s renowned Arion Press, and as an affordable paperback by Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Declare explores the nation’s founding document as both a historical artifact and a living text—one that has shaped, and continues to shape, the United States.
“Declare: A Civic Gospel invites us to return to the Declaration not as a relic of the past but as a document that remains as dynamic and inspiring as the American experiment itself,” said Dr. Jane Kamensky, president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. “In this extraordinary collaboration with Arion Press, we are pairing the highest traditions of the book arts with a bold, polyphonic chorus of voices to reflect on what the ideals of the Declaration have meant, and what they still demand of us.”
The paperback version of Declare is available for purchase on Monticello’s website, alongside a paperback version of its popular Declaration Book Club. Arion Press has produced 250 copies of the fine press edition, to be published in July, with orders fulfilled on a rolling basis after July 4.
A Landmark Fine Press Edition from Arion Press
At the heart of the project is a limited-edition fine press volume produced by Arion Press, the storied San Francisco publisher dedicated to the art of the book and the last publisher in the United States to make books entirely by hand. Printed by letterpress and hand-assembled at Arion’s unique facility, the fine press edition of Declare: A Civic Gospel is presented in a bespoke handmade box and contains an innovative rendering of the Declaration’s preamble, a suite of ten wood medallions engraved with artwork by leading American artists, and a volume collecting the project’s written contributions. The use of tulip poplar wood from trees planted during Jefferson’s lifetime connect the project to the physical grain of Monticello’s past. In this way, the project turns a living landscape into a living text, linking the nation’s origins to its ongoing renewal. The result is a work of art that reflects both the enduring significance of the Declaration and the enduring craft of bookmaking.
“The invitation to incorporate Monticello’s tulip poplar into our design perfectly fits Arion’s mission to preserve book craft,” said Rolph Blythe, Executive Director of Arion Press. “The historic wood created a foundation to present a world-class roster of artists and writers capable of speaking to the importance of the Declaration in our present moment. By saying ‘yes’ to the opportunity, we implicitly accepted a challenge: to create a work of art intended to last another 250 years.”
A Chorus of Distinguished Contributors
Dr. Kamensky begins the volume by speaking to the powerful idea at Declare’s core: the Declaration as a living organism, like a tree—something planted, tended, harvested, and regenerated across time. “Declare is a planting and preservation project,” she writes, “recovering and renewing a vital, living, arboreal legacy in prose, poetry, and art.” A poetic invocation, penned by Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove, follows with a stirring reimagining of the Declaration’s genesis in Philadelphia in July of 1776.
The volume then unfolds in three sections, each illuminating a different dimension of the nation’s founding ideals: life, liberty, and happiness. Declare concludes with Jefferson’s rough draft of the document and the final text adopted by Congress, inviting readers to engage directly with the founding document alongside the works it has inspired.
The volume features 17 authors—including Geraldine Brooks, Coleman Hughes, Walter Isaacson, Jill Lepore, Gen. James Mattis (ret.), and George Packer—spanning disciplines, perspectives, and genres. These voices form what Dr. Kamensky describes as a “polyphonic chorus” that embraces both celebration and reflection in equal measure.
Praise for Declare includes award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, Pulitzer-Prize winning historians Rick Atkinson, Annette Gordon-Reed, and Gordon S. Wood, and author Amanda Vaill. Text provided below.
Praise forDeclare: A Civic Gospel
Huzzah for this meditation, in poetry and in prose, on our foundational Declaration and the founders who gave it life. Beautifully conceived and perfectly timed, Declare is an extraordinary act of patriotism.
— Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian
A collection of essays by voices nearly as diverse as the country itself, from general to journalist, historian to poet. Provocative, informed, and passionate, these thoughts will challenge readers to reflect on—and pursue—what still binds us together as one people, a quarter millennium after Jefferson drafted our foundational document.
— Michael Auslin, author of National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America
Declare: A Civic Gospel is a beautiful reminder that ours is a country shaped by language and imagination. Bringing together some of today’s most compelling writers and thinkers in conversation with the founding ideals of the American experiment, it reflects on words that have endured for 250 years and continue to inspire people around the world. Just as importantly, Declare celebrates the book itself, one of humanity’s greatest inventions, as a work of art that speaks to us both personally and across time.
— Ken Burns, filmmaker
Declare: A Civic Gospel is a wonderful addition to the national conversation about the meaning of the Declaration of Independence and, therefore, what it means to be an American. The timing for this volume is perfect, and its messages are absolutely vital.
— Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Jefferson and Race: A Reader
What a perfect birthday present for the Declaration of Independence! The poems, essays, and narratives in these pages illuminate, interrogate, confront, and celebrate both America’s founding document and its author, Thomas Jefferson. The result is a many-voiced and full-throated affirmation of our complicated, sometimes self-contradictory national identity.
— Amanda Vaill, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Pride and Pleasure
Jane Kamensky, the head of Jefferson’s Monticello, has assembled an extraordinary array of writers to celebrate the many meanings of the Declaration of Independence on the 250th anniversary of its creation. A remarkable and lasting achievement.
— Gordon S. Wood, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution
Declare: A Civic Gospel Contributors
The Artists:
Kelli Anderson
Sandow Birk
Mel Chin
Sonya Clark
Charles Gaines
Lara Gastinger
Ann Hamilton
Chip Kidd
Wendy Red Star
Tré Seals
Stephanie Syjuco
Vincent Valdez
The Writers:
Maggie Blackhawk
Geraldine Brooks
Andrew Davenport
Rita Dove
Forrest Gander
Coleman Hughes
Walter Isaacson
Major Jackson
David Lehman
Jill Lepore
General James N. Mattis, US Marine Corps (Ret.)
George Packer
Tim Seibles
Diane Seuss
Arthur Sze
Orlando White
About Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
The Thomas Jefferson Foundation was incorporated in 1923 to preserve Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, in Charlottesville, Virginia. As a civic institution, Monticello seeks to increase knowledge and share the ideals Jefferson articulated in the Declaration of Independence through programming and scholarship built upon a foundation of rigorous research.
Monticello is recognized as a National Historic Landmark, a United Nations World Heritage Site, and a Site of Conscience. As a private, nonprofit organization, Monticello receives no ongoing local, state, or federal funding. Visitors and the generosity of donors make Monticello’s twofold mission of preservation and education possible. For information, visit monticello.org.
About Arion Press
As the last unified hot-metal type foundry, letterpress workshop, and bindery in daily operation the United States, Arion Press is one of the oldest printers in the country where books can be made entirely by hand through every step of the process. Arion’s mission is to preserve, celebrate, and champion traditional book craft in a digital era. Through Arion’s editions, public programs, and educational opportunities, the Press preserves and advances the art of making books by hand, and celebrates the role of the written word in the 21st century. For more information, visit arionpress.com.