The London Gazette

        The Gazette was first printed as a "broadsheet," a double-sided folio page roughly 11 inches by 5.  The sewing holes you see on the left side of the recto image were produced when a year's worth of Gazettes were sewn into a binding by a collector.  Its layout anticipates that of the modern newspaper, with "hard news" at the front, each story given a "byline" to locate its geographical source, and advertising bringing up the rear in the last column inches of the "verso" or back side.  In addition to the usual stolen horse notices on the "verso" or back of the broadsheet, this issue contains the text of King James II's general pardon for 1688, which excuses from punishment a wide range of crimes.  More interesting by far are the crimes excluded from the pardon, a list of which begins 2/3 of the way down the left column of the "rector" or front of the sheet.  Clicking on either image will take you to a readable one.