Three of these four scripts are from the mid-19th Century (1853, 1857, 1867), the last is from 1905.

Together they give a window into a popular culture long gone by. Although there have been recent revivals of all these plays, the values on display here are so alien to us now that Wilde's comment, "One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing," repeatedly came to mind. But one must also recall that Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (dramatized by Aiken in 1853) changed the course of history.

Besides that play, Belasco's "The Girl of the Golden West" (1905) is also remembered, but that because it was adapted by Puccini as the still-popular "La Fanciulla del West." The other two, Boucicault's "The Poor of New York" (1856) and Daly's "Under the Gaslight" (1867) are both set in New York City, and can be recommended to fans of Asbury's "Gangs of New York" or Luc Sante's "Low Life."

The introduction notes that the first African-American actor to play Uncle Tom did so in 1914.