Broadsides and broadsheets were a cheap and plentiful source of entertainment and information for ordinary people in the 19th century. Their typography was typically archaic and and the illustrations, sometimes apparently dating from a good century earlier, were often re-used time and again. Printed crudely on poor quality paper and with a short lifetime anticipated, the survivals reward visual study and moreover provide a window into British life and popular culture in the 1800s. This exhibition is a rare opportunity to see some of the broadsides in the Library’s collection.
The exhibition complements Broadsheet Ballads, a promenade theatre experience by Occam’s Razor Theatre Company and St Bride Foundation that was inspired by the Library’s collection and contributes to the Story of London Festival.
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