POST THIS UP! American Broadsides from the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Wanted posters offered rewards for the capture of thieves and enslaved persons who had run away. The descriptions on these sheets provide detailed portraits for persons who might otherwise have left little if any trace in the historic record.  It is notable that George Read’s slave London can speak German. The accused thief Thomas Dwight sounds like the type of quiet man no one ever suspects until after he has committed a crime.