Munsey's Magazine, July 1905

This July 1905 issue of Munsey's Magazine features "New York from the Flatiron," an illustrated essay by Edgar Saltus describing Manhattan from the perspective of the Flatiron Building's upper floors. The piece combines architectural and sociological observation, presenting New York as a spectacle of human activity—workers flowing through streets in ant-like streams, driven by commercial urgency and competing impulses. Saltus surveys visible landmarks including Broadway and Fifth Avenue, the Brooklyn Bridge, Pennsylvania Station, and Madison Square Garden, examining their historical development and aesthetic significance. He propounds evolutionary philosophy, suggesting that as buildings ascend, human intellectual capacity advances, and that future civilization will regard contemporary humanity as we regard apes. The essay is accompanied by multiple photographs documenting views from the Flatiron across various districts—the East Side, Hudson River, theaters, shopping districts, and lower Manhattan—with labeled landmarks and geographic references.