This is a collection of magazine illustrations of New York City (chiefly Manhattan, as the other boroughs were not quite part of the City yet) from the second half of the 19th century. The reproduction quality is very good - surprisingly so, even. There appears to be minimal reduction, and many of the images are full-page. The artwork itself is also wonderful and varied, some of the artists represented were masters of line and light. The subjects are many - there are newly constructed buildings and bridges, traditions and celebrations, fires, political conflicts, heat waves, markets, and many other events and aspects of life illustrated.

The captions are well-written and add quite a bit of context to the images. Sources down to the specific issue date are provided for the images, along with the full names of the artists where possible.

The contents are not in chronological order, so if you're interested in a particular decade, you'll have to look through everything. This is complicated by the fact that the image descriptions often run with no line breaks between different descriptions, requiring more effort to find the headings and dates.

If you're looking to get a feel for life in mid to late 19th century New York City, this should help. It may also be of use if you're working with a fictional Victorian-esque setting, as New York was not entirely dissimilar to the large British cities of this time, and with its elevated trains has a decidedly steampunk look.