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The Gentleman’S Companion. New York City. In 1870, Anonymous, Paul Royster (Depositor)

Electronic Texts in American Studies

This is a pocket-sized guide to the prostitution industry or sex trade in New York City in 1870--a directory of its brothels, barrooms, and houses of assignation. It is a remarkable record of the demimonde in the post-Civil War city that housed an estimated 20,000 prostitutes.

In the following pages some shadows, dirt spots, and microfilm scratches have been removed, but the text remains unaltered. The pagination appears unorthodox in places due to interpolated advertisements for various establishments.

A copy of the work held in the New-York Historical Society is reprinted online with commentary at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/documents/a-vest-pocket-guide-to-brothels-in-19th-century-new-york-for-gentlemen-on-the-go?mcubz=0

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