Alice Morse Earle was a social historian of great note at the turn of the century, and many of her books have lived on as well-researched and well-written texts of everyday life in Colonial America. Curious Punishments of Bygone Days was first published in 1896. It is a catalogue of early American crimes and their penalties, with chapters on the pillories, stocks, the scarlet letter, the ducking stool, discipline of authors and books, and four other horrifying examples of ways in which those who transgressed the laws of Colonial America were made to pay for their sins. Contents Include The Bilboes The Ducking Stool The Stocks The Pillory Punishments of Authors and Books The Whipping-Post The Scarlet Letter Branks and Gags Public Penance Military Punishments Branding and Maiming