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The Gilded Age in New York, 1870-1910 Hardcover – Illustrated, September 27, 2016

by Esther Crain (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 436 ratings
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An expansive exploration of The Gilded Age in New York City, from of the extravagant lifestyles and magnificent mansions of the ultra-rich to the daily doings of the wretchedly poor who lived in the shadows of their newly constructed skyscrapers. Written by the curator of Ephemeral New York and illustrated with hundreds of rarely-seen images.

Mark Twain coined the term the "Gilded Age" for this period of growth and extravagance, experienced most dramatically in New York City from the 1870s to 1910. In forty short years, the city suddenly became a city of skyscrapers, subways, streetlights, and Central Park, as well as sprawling bridges that connected the once-distant boroughs. In Manhattan, more than a million poor immigrants crammed into tenements, while the half of the millionaires in the entire country lined Fifth Avenue with their opulent mansions.

The Gilded Age in New York City covers daily life for the rich, poor, and the burgeoning middle class; the colorful and energetic entrepreneurs known as both “captains of industry” and “robber barons” including John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Leland Stanford, and J.P. Morgan;  the opulence and excess of the new wealthy class; the influx of immigrants which caused the city's population to quadruple in 40 years; how new-found leisure time was spent in places such as Coney Island and Central Park; crimes that shocked the city and altered the police force; the rise of social services; and the city's physical growth both skyward and outward toward the five boroughs.

With more than 300 illustrations and photographs (including images colorized specifically for this book) combined with firsthand accounts and fascinating details, The Gilded Age in New York presents a vivid tapestry of American society at the turn of the century.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Black Dog & Leventhal
  4. Publication date
    September 27, 2016
  5. Dimensions
    9.55 x 1.4 x 12.45 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0316353663
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0316353663
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A beguiling, lavishly illustrated book that. . . epitomizes what Ms. Crain calls the city's incredible energy and sense of its own greatness and destiny."―Sam Roberts, The New York Times

"Crain unspools the story of four decades in crisp prose studded with pictures."―Entertainment Weekly

About the Author

Esther Crain, a native New Yorker, wrote New-York Historical Society's New York City in 3D in the Gilded Age. In 2008, she launched Ephemeral New York, a website that chronicles the city's past, which was been profiled in numerous publications, including the New York Times, New York Daily News, and New York Post.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Black Dog & Leventhal; Illustrated edition (September 27, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316353663
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316353663
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.89 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.55 x 1.4 x 12.45 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 436 ratings

About the author

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Esther Crain

Esther Crain

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Esther Crain is a writer and native New Yorker. In 2008 she launched Ephemeral New York (ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com), a website that chronicles the city's past through photos, newspaper articles, art, and other artifacts. The site has been featured in The New York Times, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, and other publications.

In 2014, her first book, New York City in 3D in the Gilded Age explored this dynamic period in New York history with the help of rare stereoscopic photographs and a stereoscope viewer.

On September 27, 2016, her second book, The Gilded Age in New York, 1870-1910, will be released. Beautifully put together and bursting with color, the book takes a deeper dive into the Gilded Age—exploring what day-to-day life was like in an age of posh Fifth Avenue mansions and crowded tenements; of deep political corruption and a widening gap between rich and poor.

Rarely seen photographs and illustrations help tell the story of how New York transformed from a small-scale post-Civil War city lit by gas and powered by horses into a mighty metropolis of skyscrapers, subways, blazing electric light, and rapid social change.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
436 global ratings
Excellent book
5 Stars
Excellent book
Wow, what a cool book. This would make a wonderful gift to a NYC history buff. The book is a coffee table type book, with very cool pictures and illustrations of NYC from the 1870s to 1910. The book includes short written sections discussing various aspects of history. I've included pictures of the front and back covers. Really a beautiful book.
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Top reviews from the United States

MedicalAesthetician
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Illustration
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2024
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Bought this for a client. She loved the details and illustration
One person found this helpful
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Jordan Sollitto
5.0 out of 5 stars Time Travel and New York Tourism all Rolled into One
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2018
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I loved this book. An exploration of virtually every aspect of life in New York during the Gilded Age, it combines fascinating historical background, entertaining anecdotes and a vast array of wonderful old photos and drawings to make you feel like you have travelled through time to visit the world's greatest city during an unparalleled period of growth, development and modernization. Any New Yorker will enjoy the countless origin stories of familiar neighborhoods, buildings, bridges and other landmarks. Any history buff will revel in its peek into life in a simpler time as the industrial influences that would forever change the city, country and world are just beginning to make their mark. Great, great stuff.
12 people found this helpful
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Labelle Jennie
4.0 out of 5 stars Great book. And great look at the Big Apple and how it came to be big.
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2020
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Very interesting and well researched. I love pictorial histories. The images say much more about the times. The only error I saw was the photo on page 291. That was taken in the 30s or thereabouts. The car in the middle upper part of the image was not in use - not even made- in 1900. Also the style of dress for the bystanders are clearly from a later time. Besides that very minor detail, this is a great book. Highly recommend it.
5 people found this helpful
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Salty Girl
5.0 out of 5 stars Dazzling!
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2016
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Wow....I can't say enough good things about this book. I love good, meaty coffee table books, and this certainly fits the bill. The illustrations are simply dazzling. Many of the historic photos are colorized in a way I've never seen before. The cover of the book is a good example of what to expect inside....a huge picture with lots of detail painstakingly colorized that brings a real vibrancy to the work. My husband and I kind of get hypnotized staring at some of those colorized images of Mulberry street and Central Park.

The actual book itself was much larger than I was expecting, and the quality of the illustrations were sharp and clear. Even the fonts in the side-bars added a wonderful period touch.

And the text: Very nice! This is a whirlwind tour of NYC, so no topic has a ton of depth, but there are interesting sidebars with vignettes that provide humanizing details. I hope I don't sound like an advertisement....but for $27 you get a lot for your money. I wish there were more stunning coffee table books like this for other cities. Boston, anyone? Washington DC?
13 people found this helpful
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SArmst2547
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book about New York's growth period
Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2022
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This is more like a coffee-table book, with gorgeous pictures, colorized photographs, drawings, contemporary newspaper cut-outs, and the like. I found it superbly produced.

In addition, however, the commentary was excellent. I learned so much about New York from this book!

The contents included not just the mega-rich, but also the discussion of the tenements and the growth of Progressive thought as America moved into the Industrial age with brio and passion.

Totally worth the price.
9 people found this helpful
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BDay
5.0 out of 5 stars Just got it.
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2017
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I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I bought it because I attended a lecture by the author who gave a sneak peek at the contents so I know it has excellent information inside. What surprised me was the quality of the book. It's a good size with nice, thick pages. But, most importantly, the pictures inside are stunning. I don't know how they managed to get that level of detail out of pictures so old. I know I will spend hours just looking at the pictures.
8 people found this helpful
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w
3.0 out of 5 stars this is about the age in general, not the eponymous gilded persons
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2020
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Other reviews have said pretty much everything there is to say; my beef is that this is a photo survey of NY in general at about the turn of the century - NOT specifically about the RICH PEOPLE whom the age is named for. I was looking for a book that would've showed much more about these gilded age RICH PEOPLE, more snaps of their mansions, the interiors, the gilded age RICH PEOPLE themselves, what they wore, where they bought it, who designed it and supplied it. Besides Del's, where did they eat? What did they eat? How much was a Singer-Sargent portrait? How much was a carriage; how many servants was needed to support a 65 room mansion? When they shopped, how did they do it? What happened to all their stuff? In the spirit of being morbidly fascinated by and envious of Rich People, I wanted more, More, MORE.

NOTE: I've discovered the book The Opulent Interiors of the Gilded Age [Dover 0-486-25250-7] a reprint of a 2 volume work from 1883/84. Opulent Interiors has pictures of about 95 private homes of the richest of the rich - almost all of them demolished within 50 years of being built; a $17.5 million dollar mansion, in 1880 $$, gone in 65 years! Updated text by Lewis/Turner/McQuillin dissects what your'e seeing [who built it, who influenced them, the statement they were making], the source of their wealth [how they got and lost it], how wealthy Americans began to define and solidify their position as a 'class' - well, all sorts of general things that you want to know about Gilded Age Rich People without having to read a gigantic book to get at it - really great.
49 people found this helpful
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Paul K. Eversman
5.0 out of 5 stars Treasure Trove of Information and Photographs, Beautifully Illustrated
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2017
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A very informative, scholarly work. Many primary sources were used in the research which is always a plus. Every page contains excellent photographs and illustrations. With every page I learn something new. Meticulously researched and very well written. The binding and paper is also of very high quality. I would consider this a must for persons interested in the history of NYC during that era, students, academics and anyone who would like a glimpse into the gilded age of NY.
19 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Client d'Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars parfait
Reviewed in France on January 10, 2023
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ARRIVE TRES VITE ET DANS UN BON ETAT. SUPER CONTENTE.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars 10/10, highly recommend
Reviewed in Canada on July 16, 2020
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An excellent addition to my history of NYC collection. This is such a beautiful, informative book... I can't believe how inexpensively I was able to purchase it. Fantastic!
2 people found this helpful
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pdel
5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for lovers of New York City
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 2, 2018
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A superb book for anyone interested in NYC history, or indeed the history of America. It looks like a coffee table book, large format and lots of pictures, so much indeed that it took me a weekend to 'flick' through it. The revelation is that the text, of which there is much, is hugely informative and demonstrates not only considerable research but a real love of the city and its people. A valuable addition to anyone's NY library.
2 people found this helpful
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Retired
5.0 out of 5 stars Great picture book -- love it
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 3, 2019
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If you like books of historical photographs, especially if you know New York City, you will love this book. The photo selection is excellent and covers the history of New York very well. The text is an excellent account of the story of New York, especially the waves of immigrants that made New York what it is today.
2 people found this helpful
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june patricia smith
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book with interesting text and illustrations that go a ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 5, 2018
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An excellent book with interesting text and illustrations that go a long way to recreate the period. A most attractice publication.
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