Broadside entitled 'Suicide of William Pollock'

Commentary

This public notice begins: 'A Full True and Particular Account of the Suicide committed by WILLIAM POLLOCK, in the Jail of Edinburgh, yesterday morning, the 20th March 1826, who was condemned to be Executed here tomorrow'. This sheet was published by J. Cumming of Edinburgh and would have cost a penny to buy.

Reports recounting dark and salacious deeds were popular with the public, and, like today's sensationalist tabloids, sold in large numbers. Crimes could generate sequences of sheets covering descriptive accounts, court proceedings, last words, lamentations and executions as they occurred. As competition was fierce, immediacy was paramount, and these occasions provided an opportunity for printers and patterers to maximise sales.

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