Lights and Shadows of New York Life; Or, The Sights and Sensations of the Great City

by Well-illustrated (Illustrator)

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

850 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1872

Reviews

[Jocelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really wanted to write a full review of this book, but I just don't have the typing in me right now, so you're getting an abridged version. This is an 1870s book on New York City, running to 800+ pages. You would think a book that long from this era might be ponderous and dull, but it's quite the opposite! This is a breezy potted history of dozens of topics pertaining to the city. It took me three weeks to read it, but the reason it did was that I kept stopping at least once a page to look up what had become of the various people, institutions, and buildings in the 140 years since (spoiler: everybody died, sorry) - and that was as interesting as the book itself.

The other thing that made it tons of fun was the Victorian-era moralizing tone combined with the many warnings of the dangers of the great city. Now, the book's era has no monopoly on warnings of the dangers of the city - I know I got some after the first WTC bombing as I was hoping to become an NYU student. But the lens of modernity makes them comic. There are numerous things you are told not to do - visit dance halls, illegal gambling haunts, low theatres - because you are putting yourself in certain peril and if you do any of these things you will inevitably be setting yourself up to be robbed, murdered, and thrown in the river, or if you are a woman, you will be drugged, "ruined" and forced into prostitution. The number of situations that will cause you as a woman to inevitably be drugged and "ruined" comes to be hilarious by the close of the book.

If you have any love for NYC, a desire for a view of the tourism and daily life of the era, or if you feel like you need to know the dozens of situations in which you should look out for drugged liquor and ruining, pick this one up, and have Wikipedia by your side.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

“No matter how clever he may consider himself, no respectable man is a match for the villains and sharpers of New York, and he voluntarily brings upon himself all the consequences that will follow his entrance into the haunts of the criminal and disreputable classes. The city is full of danger. The path of safety which is pointed out in these pages is the only one for either citizen or stranger—an absolute avoidance of the vicinity of sin” (15-16).

“Extravagance is the besetting sin of New York City. Money is absolutely thrown away. Fortunes are spent every year in dress and in all sorts of follies” (141).

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book of personal observations about New York City is of interest mainly because it was written in 1872. The reader gains a contemporary view of the city in the midst of a historical period of stupendous population growth due to its waves of immigrants. A lot of the information is fairly general, though, and the author is not shy about providing his opinions about his social inferiors. It might be regarded as an oral history.

[J.E.S. Hays · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great historical reference for writers and anyone interested in New York of the 1870s - a verbal snapshot of the city during its Gilded Age. There are detailed descriptions of its main streets and notable citizens. There is enough early history to explain what was going on in that era. There are chapters on fashion, transportation, hotels and beer gardens, crime and the police, and cost of living. I really got a lot out of this book, and, while the writing style is dated (naturally), it's an interesting read.

[Nicole C. (using StoryGraph more these days) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've picked this book up at various intervals over the last few years, and finally finished it. However, it's something that one can easily pick up and read a section and then come back to it later without losing the thread.

Lights and Shadows of New York Life is a great contemporary history of the Big Apple in the 1870s, the Gilded Age. . . when the poor and rich were the only classes (it's amazing how the author's lament about the disappearance of the middle class is still so very relevant in 2018), and prostitution and murder were fairly rampant. However, he also tells the reader about prominent men of the city, the beautiful parks and scenery, and reveals the plight of factory girls and seamstresses.

This book would be an excellent primer should you wish to write a story set in this time. There are even prices for some household goods scattered in here.

Be sure to get a version that includes the illustrations, which are very well done and help to evoke the time period.