Cops and Robbers

Tabloid journalism is certainly nothing new. For centuries tales of rape, murder, and intrigue have been important for the print culture of the English speaking world. Now Harvard has made an extraordinary collection of crime broadsides available to the public in digital form. Check out Dying Speeches & Bloody Murders: Crime Broadsides Collected by the Harvard Law School Library. The collection includes some wonderful engravings along with accounts of feral criminals like Thomas Biggs. Thanks to Robert Folkenflik for the link.