Street literature is any of several different types of publication sold on the streets, at fairs and other public gatherings, by travelling hawkers, pedlars or chapmen, from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Robert Collison's account of the subject describes street literature as the "forerunner of the popular press". Leslie Shepard's "History of Street Literature" identifies a range of different publications as indicated by his subtitle: "The Story of Broadside Ballads, Chapbooks, Proclamations, News-Sheets, Election Bills, Tracts, Pamphlets, Cocks, Catchpennies, and Other Ephemera". Street literature therefore includes several different printed formats and publication types. The main formats are: Broadside ballad Broadside ballads are traditional ballads printed on one side of a full sheet or half sheet of paper, often in landscape orientation. Intended to be pasted on to walls for public consultation. Chapbook Chapbooks were small, paper-covered booklets, usually printed on a single sheet and folded into books of 8, 12, 16 or 24 pages, either stitched or unstitched. There are several sub-categories of chapbook, notably: Histories - 12 or 24- page booklets containing popular accounts of historical figures, traditional tales, fairy stories etc. Patters - 8 or 16-page publications containing simple religious texts, humorous or sensational stories such as accounts of murders or natural disaster. Sold by a patterer, which was 'a noisy talkative street hawker of songs, last dying speeches, &c.'. Collections - 8 or 16-page publications containing collections of the lyrics of popular songs. Popular prints Popular prints encompass a wide range of cheap printed images of differing sizes and for different purposes. They were generally of low artistic merit and often contained sensational, humorous or bawdy subjects. Slip songs The lyrics of popular songs printed four or eight to a sheet and cut into slips, to be sold to theatre-goers or those attending other places of public entertainment. Other terms used While the term street literature (coined in the mid-nineteenth century) is common, there are several other terms used in association with street literature which categorise the type of content rather than the format. These terms are not mutually exclusive Almanac – an annual publication listing a set of events forthcoming in the next year. Catchpenny – cheap, mass-produced sheets printed on one side on unfolded sheets of paper. Cock – fictitious narratives, in verse or prose, of murders, fires, and terrible accidents, sold in the streets as true accounts. "The man who hawks them, a