George C. Foster. New York by Gas-Light and Other Urban Sketches: With Here and There a Streak of Sunshine. New York: Dewitt and Davenport, 1850. (On loan from Special Collections of the University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware)
A newspaper reporter since he was sixteen, George Foster was especially equipped to observe and record city life. Published at a time when the population of New York topped 500,000, his New York by Gas-Light illuminates the milieus of bowling alleys, dance halls, saloons, theaters, and more. Foster expressed optimism about the future of the great metropolis, yet he worried about the growing divide between rich and poor. He reserved especially critical judgment for the hypocritical actions of those who acted as respectable businessmen during the day yet by night gambled, whored, and prowled the urban streets “by gas-light.” His own fortunes on the decline toward the end of his life, Foster died in Philadelphia in 1856 after serving time for in prison for passing forged notes.
