Customer Reviews

Old New York in Early Photographs: 1853-1901

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book features 196 carefully chosen photos from the New-York Historical Society, arranged by neighborhood from the Battery to the Bronx (though the emphasis is on Manhattan). These superb photos document the changing face of New York City -- not only the buildings (from mansions to shacks), but the people, clothing styles, and modes of transportation. A succinct description accompanies each, pointing out features of interest. Some focal points are presented in several photos taken years or decades apart. An excellent book for anyone who wants to really get a sense of the times.

The print quality of the photos in OLD NEW YORK IN EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS is quite good, better than most. And the quantity of the photographs is equally impressive. And that's about it for the positives.

Arranged by neighborhood, the photos have little else to do with each other. There is no unifying theme holding the photos together. Not that every collection ought to have a theme as powerful as Jacob Riis' HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES, but these photos seem so haphazardly arranged. The scanty text doesn't even attempt to explain how the individual vignettes came about, or how it relates to the particiular time in New York's history that the photo was taken. And, of course, Manhattan is the only borough represented here. I suppose the citizens of the other four boroughs had yet to climb down from their trees and build fires, never mind operate cameras.

Rocco Dormarunno from ooog-ooog Brooklyn

If one desires a book of page-size, sterile photos of substantial structures (with minimal captions) this volume will certainly fill the bill. If, however, one prefers historical snapshots of people amidst the buildings or scenes of shacks or tenements, be forewarned that these are few and far between. Also, in number, the later-in-time pictures tend to predominate. Thus, if the viewer is looking to gaze a la Gangs of New York, some of the wordier texts provide much more appropriate photographic fodder.

Pictorial books like these are glorious time machines and invaluable primary resources. We are so fortunate that these pictures exist. The prints are crystal clear and detailed in that way only black and white photography can be. There is no greater joy that going down to Manhattan and finding the places photographed and seeing if anything has survived.

I had this book years ago, it got lost along the way, and I was so happy to see this copy offered on Amazon! It is the very best old-New-York photo book available! Thrilled to receive it! Recommended!!!

This was a good Old whatever book. I had been reading Edith Wharton and really wanted to see the old mansions of the wealthy New Yorkers. I did not see much of this in the book. But I enjoyed the pictures and the text.

This is a collection of 196 photographs from the New York Historical Society which was issued by Dover Publications in 1973. All the photographs were taken in the last half of the 19th Century, shortly after photography was invented. Despite the cover, which shows numerous posed people, due to the long exposures that were required at the time, the collection is essential the landscapes and buildings of New York. And in the best tradition of the famous "New Yorker" magazine cover, which greatly emphasizes Manhattan, and minimizes to inconsequence the rest of the world, the other four boroughs of New York are omitted from the book... it is only Manhattan!

There are several arresting views of times long gone by. The shoreline of Manhattan was dominated by docks, and sailing ships. Trinity Church, as viewed from one of the piers that would be the Brooklyn Bridge, famously at the end of Wall Street, dominates the skyline of lower Manhattan. There is the "Flat Iron" building, celebrated in a photograph by Edward Steichen, when it was under construction. An artistic quality is evidenced in the photograph of the sinuous coenties slip, part of the elevated railroad, with the masts of sailing vessels in the background. Manhattan is considered the antithesis of a rural setting, but there is a photograph of Caspar Samler's farmhouse, taken in 1865, and Jumel Mansion, taken in 1892, in seeming rural splendor. There is only one photograph per page, in a 9 x 12 format. Overall, there are useful lists and indexes of the photographs, with the location specified by present day streets.

It would have been useful if a map of Manhattan was included, with references indicating the photographs location. It would also have been beneficial if it was noted if the structure still existed, and if not, what was in its place when the book was published. Overall, a 4-star effort, in giving the reader a view of a time long since past.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then they leave an amazing amount of mental images as well. The 'old' photographs here truly are timeless, in that they captured NYC street scenes and neighborhoods in clear and sharp detail, giving the rest of us a view to the past that words can't quite convey.
I relied on it as well as Riis's book and a few others for research purposes, and from time to time found myself going back to certain shots, impressed with the clarity and detail.
This is a book for a targeted audience, or maybe a coffee table. A casual reader easily leaf through it with interest but probably wouldn't necessarily add it to their book shelf.
Like I said, a could research refrence and for that, four stars.