Broadside

The term used to indicate work printed on one of a large sheet of paper.<br><br>In printing, a large sheet of paper on one side of which is printed text with little or no graphic, often an advertisement or an announcement. Broadsides have often been folded. Also called a broadsheet. Both this printing sense of "broadside" and the naval one (the guns on one side of a ship) arose separately in the 16th century. Printed broadsides may have first been decrees intended for public posting, so they were necessarily printed on one side of large sheets of paper. Soon even matters printed on one side of smallish sheets were called broadsides ? advertisements, for example, or the so-called "broadside ballads," popular ditties that people stuck on the wall to sing from. The broadside is closely related to the handbill, the brochure, and the pamphlet.Examples: American, an antislavery broadside advertising a series of antislavery rallies, c. 1850s, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC.Jos? Guadalupe Posada (Mexican, 1852-1913), Calavera Revolucionaria, c.1910, central panel of a larger sheet of images; 14 x 10 1/2. This print is the central image from a larger broadside, printed from a zinc plate etched by an acid bath. The image is first drawn onto the zinc plate using a pen with a greasy type of ink that protects the marks from the acid bath. The plate is then placed in a light acid solution. The acid erodes into the plate leaving the drawn lines standing in relief. Jos? Posada was an artist during a time of great political and social revolution. Posada was an outspoken critic of the long ruling government of the dictator Porfirio D?az. He was an artist for the common people of Mexico. Posada was also a political satirist. Many times local and state governments were the objects of political satire. In contrast, Emiliano Zapata, a popular hero of the Mexican Revolution, was often portrayed by Posada as noble, upright, and honorable.Also see ephemera and propaganda.