New York: Dodd, Mead, 1902. First Edition. First printing. Octavo. Publisher's pictorial cloth, stamped in colors with gilt spine titles; 315pp; frontispiece and 35 unnumbered leaves of photographic plates (halftones). Square and tight with a trace of rubbing at board corners; Near Fine.

Unusually nice copy of this richly-illustrated survey of New York slums, with much on the history of welfare and housing reform in the city. Though described by one later 20th-century critic as a "condescending do-gooder tract of generally Progressive sentiment" (see David M. Fine, "Abraham Cahan, Stephen Crane and the romantic tenement tale of the nineties" in American Studies v.14, no. 1, Spring 1973), Betts' work is a useful record of late-Victorian attitudes towards immigrant labor, housing, and cultural assimilation. Lillian Williams Betts (dates uncertain) was a prominent writer on social welfare issues, and long-time Home Editor for The Outlook. [61473].

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Bookseller: Lorne Bair Rare Books (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 61473
Title: The Leaven in a Great City
Author: [NEW YORK] BETTS, Lillian W
Book Condition: Used
Quantity Available: 1
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: Dodd, Mead
Place of Publication: New York
Date Published: 1902
Bookseller catalogs: Immigration; Settlement Movement;

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Lorne Bair Rare Books

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About Lorne Bair Rare Books

Lorne Bair Rare Books specializes in books, mansuscripts, and printed ephemera relating to American Social History, with an emphasis on radical and utopian movements of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. We are available in our showroom by appointment, at shows, and on-line through various booksellers' sites or at our website www.lornebair.com.

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Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Spine: The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
Cloth: "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
First Edition: In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Octavo: Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
Gilt: The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
Fine: A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Leaves: Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...
Rubbing: Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
Tight: Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.