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The Prisons and Punishments ClipArt gallery offers 20 illustrations of jails and other forms of punishment such as the pillory or dunking stool.

"Brank, or Branks, an instrument and formerly used in Scotland, and to some extent also in England, as a punishment for scolds. It consisted of an iron frame which went over the head of the offender, and had in front an iron plate which was inserted in the mouth, where it was fixed above the tongue, and kept it perfectly quiet." — Winston's Encyclopedia, 1919

Brank

"Brank, or Branks, an instrument and formerly used in Scotland, and to some extent also in England,…

Used as a form of humiliating punishment for angry women, a ducking stool was "a stool or chair in which common scolds were formerly tied and plunged into water." -Whitney, 1911

Ducking Stool

Used as a form of humiliating punishment for angry women, a ducking stool was "a stool or chair in which…

"An apparatus at one time in use in Britain for the punishment of wives. The ducking-stool grew out of the cucking-stool, which was not, as many have supposed, a mere difference of name for the same thing. The cucking-stool of itself did not admit of the ducking of its occupants. It was a simple chair in which the offender was placed, usually before her or his (for the cucking-stool was not so specially for women as the ducking-stool) own door, to be pelted and insulted by the mob." — Chambers' Encyclopedia, 1875

Ducking-Stool

"An apparatus at one time in use in Britain for the punishment of wives. The ducking-stool grew out…

"1. Tumbrel preserved at Leominster; 2. Ducking-chair in the museum at Scarborough." — Chambers' Encyclopedia, 1875

Ducking-Stool

"1. Tumbrel preserved at Leominster; 2. Ducking-chair in the museum at Scarborough." — Chambers'…

An illustration of a guillotine which was a device used to carry out executions by decapitation. Guillotines consist of a tall, vertical frame where a blade is suspended.

Guillotine

An illustration of a guillotine which was a device used to carry out executions by decapitation. Guillotines…

"The guillotine was used during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. Now that the power of the Girondists was broken, and military successes had strengthened the revolutionary party in control, France entered upon that part of the Revolution known as the Reign of Terror. The characteristic feature of the next few months was the wholesale murder of all persons suspected of hostility toward the Jacobin government or lukewarmness on its behalf. To be sure, the victims enjoyed the show of a judicial trial, but sentence was rendered without regard to justice or the facts of the case and execution followed quickly. The guillotine, named after its inventor, Dr. Guillotin, was a serviceable instrument for disposing quickly of the condemned, and hardly a day passed without seeing a score or more of suspected persons beheaded in the city of Paris alone."—Colby, 1899

Guillotine

"The guillotine was used during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. Now that the power of…

"The guillotine is an apparatus for beheading persons at one stroke, adopted by the National Assembly of France during the first Revolution, on the proposals of a Dr. Guillotin, after whom it was named."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)

Guillotine

"The guillotine is an apparatus for beheading persons at one stroke, adopted by the National Assembly…

Device for beheading during the French Revolution.

Guillotine

Device for beheading during the French Revolution.

The guillotine was a decapitating execution device invented by Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, remembered for its use in the French Revolution.

Guillotine

The guillotine was a decapitating execution device invented by Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, remembered for…

The guillotine was a device used for carrying out executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which a heavy blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the victim's head from his or her body. The device is noted for long being the main method of execution in France and, more particularly, for its use during the French Revolution. The guillotine also "became a part of popular culture, celebrated as the people's avenger by supporters of the Revolution and vilified as the preeminent symbol of the Terror by opponents.

Guillotine

The guillotine was a device used for carrying out executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall…

The guillotine was a device used for carrying out executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which a blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the victim's head from his or her body.

Guillotine

The guillotine was a device used for carrying out executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall…

A device used for carrying out executions by decapitation.

The Guillotine

A device used for carrying out executions by decapitation.

A fastening consisting of an iron ring around the wrist, usually connected by a chain with one on the other wrist; a mannacle; used when taking one to jail.

Handcuff

A fastening consisting of an iron ring around the wrist, usually connected by a chain with one on the…

A prison; a place for the confinement of persons arrested for debt or for crime.

Jail

A prison; a place for the confinement of persons arrested for debt or for crime.

A wooden frame designed for the punishment of offenders and criminals. This mode of punishment was formerly of common use in England, but it was abolished there in 1837. It was employed principally for the punishment of those guilty of perjury, forgery, libel, petty larceny, and unjust weights, and for some time it was used in punishing common scolds and brawlers.

Pillory

A wooden frame designed for the punishment of offenders and criminals. This mode of punishment was formerly…

A frame of wood erected on a post or pole, with movable boards resembling those in the stocks, and the holes which were put the head and hands of an offender, which was thus exposed to public derision.

Pillory

A frame of wood erected on a post or pole, with movable boards resembling those in the stocks, and the…

A form of punishment.

Pillory

A form of punishment.

An illustration of a prison.

Prison

An illustration of a prison.

"A Ducking Stool is a chair in which scolding and vixenish wives were formerly securely fastened, to receive the punishment of being ducked in the water."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)

Ducking Stool

"A Ducking Stool is a chair in which scolding and vixenish wives were formerly securely fastened, to…

A view of the prison-pen at Millen, Georgia.

The prison at Millen

A view of the prison-pen at Millen, Georgia.