Particulars of The Trial and Execution of James Butler, Who was Executed this Morning at the Old Bailey; With the Copy of a Letter written by Butler to his Accomplice the Night before his Execution

Execution broadside printed with an account of the crime, trial and execution of James Butler aged 32 found guilty of burglary and stealing from a house in Paddington. Printed by Thomas Birt the broadside includes a generic woodcut engraving of the gallows and the crowd a confessional letter written by Butler the night before his execution. The broadsheet also reports that during the service held for the condemned men Butler fell on his knees and acknowledged the justice of his sentence hoping it would be a warning to all other unthinking young men.

Until 1868 public hangings were a popular form of entertainment for the London crowd. Such occasions provided an opportunity for cheap printers and street vendors to 'turn a penny on the street' by selling accounts of the crimes, trial and 'dying speeches' of executed criminals as souvenirs to the baying spectactors. As soon as the trap fell the street vendors began running amongst the crowd selling the broadsides. Execution broadsides were published by a small number of printers many of whom, such as Thomas Birt, James Catnach and James Pitts were based around the Seven Dials area of London. Spelling and grammar was often poor and the details not always accurate. Although ususally printed between the end of the trial and the date of the execution (usually a gap of a few weeks) they could be quickly changed to accomodate last minute information and 'dying confessions'. The printers often used battered woodcuts, and, for the gallows scene used a stock block with a pierced central section to allow the sex and required number of hanging figures to be changed as required. Female criminals were depicted by using a block for a male figure, cut square at the knee to represent a skirt.