A. V. Judges 
Elizabethan Underworld – a collection of Tudor and Early Stuart Tracts and Ballads 
Previously published 1930 and 1965

The Elizabethan Underworld collects together sixteen of the more important tracts from the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries dealing with the lives and misdoings of thieves, rogues, and tricksters. For the most part the original authors were men of experience – watchmen, constables and those who drifted into the London underworld and learnt its tricks. A thorough introduction contributes a full historical background and outlines contemporary social contexts.