Popular prints is a term for printed images of generally low artistic quality which were sold cheaply in Europe and later the New World from the 15th to 18th centuries, often with text as well as images. They were some of the earliest examples of mass media. After about 1800, the types and quantity of images greatly increased, but other terms are usually used to categorise them.
The Mice Burying the Cat, a 1760s Russian lubok hand-coloured woodcut. It probably originally dates from the reign of Peter the Great, but this impression probably dates from c. 1766. Possibly a satire on Peter's reforms, or just a representation of carnivalesque inversion, "turning the world upside down".
The Seven Ages of Man, German, 1482, British Museum
Der Große Komet über Prag, 12. November 1577, Zentralbibliothek Zürich
James Gillray's The Plumb-pudding in danger (1805), which caricatured Pitt and Napoleon, was voted the most famous of all UK political cartoons. Library of Congress
Mass media includes the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication.
Copy of a newspaper (El Universo), an example of mass media
Egyptian movie star Salah Zulfikar on the cover of Al-Kawakeb magazine, March 1961, an example of mass media
Shopping carts for children fitted with gaming computers
Actress Mervat Amin on the cover for Al-Mawwid magazine, June 1972
