INTRODUCTION TO THE AMERICAN EDITION
 
When this book was first published fifteen years ago, there was very little interest in broadside ballads and chapbooks.

FOREWORD
by
A. L. LLOYD
We have grown used to thinking of folk-song as an essentially rural kind of song passed on by word of mouth.

PREFACE
by
KENNETH S. GOLDSTEIN
There have been numerous volumes of broadside ballads published; there are several broadside ballad indexes; and now, finally, there is a book about broadside ballads.

INTRODUCTION
This study is designed as an introduction to a fascinating field that links together a number of separate studies, ranging from English Literature to the Social Sciences.