BROADSIDE, sometimes termed BROADSHEET, a single sheet of paper containing printed matter on one side only. The broad side seems to have been employed from the beginning of printing for royal proclamations, papal indulgences and similar documents. England appears to have been its chief home, where it was used chiefly for ballads but also as a means of political agitation and for personal statements of all kinds, especially for the dissemina tion of the dying speeches and confessions of criminals. It is prominent in the history of literature because several important poems, by Dryden, Butler and others, originally appeared printed on the "broad side" of a sheet. The term is also used of the simultaneous discharge of the guns on one side of a ship of war. In Advertising.—In advertising, "broadside" means a single sheet of paper with an advertising message printed either on one side or on both sides that is distributed by mail or otherwise by an advertiser to customers or prospective customers. These sheets, often as large as 25in. by 38in., are folded down to a size practic able for mailing purposes, generally not larger than 5 by RD inches. When distributed by mail, the broadside is sometimes enclosed in an envelope; on other occasions it is sent without an envelope, the address being placed on the broadside itself, which commonly is prevented from unfolding by such devices as a paster, the post age stamp or a clip. As the reader unfolds the broadside, each area disclosed by this unfolding usually bears an advertising message or other printing. The chief characteristic of the broadside is its impressive size when fully opened, a fact which permits the ad vertiser to secure marked emphasis through the employment of big type, and large headlines and illustrations. Some broadsides are issued with the intention of having the merchants to whom they are sent display them in their windows.