author
Ward McAllister
1827–1895
A famously sharp observer of Gilded Age manners, this American lawyer became one of the best-known gatekeepers of New York high society. He is still remembered for popularizing the idea of "the Four Hundred" and for writing about the glittering world he helped define.
1 Audiobook
Society as I Have Found It
by Ward McAllister
About the author
Born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1827, Ward McAllister trained as a lawyer and later spent time in California during the Gold Rush before establishing himself in New York society. Over time he became a celebrated social arbiter, advising on etiquette, entertaining, and who counted among the city’s elite.
McAllister is most closely linked with the phrase "the Four Hundred," the supposed inner circle of New York’s fashionable world during the Gilded Age. His influence was tied especially to the orbit of Mrs. William Astor, and he built a public reputation as someone who could explain the rules and rituals of upper-class social life.
He also wrote about that world, most notably in Society as I Have Found It (1890). The book helped preserve his place in history, but it also damaged his standing among some of the very people he described. He died in New York City in 1895, leaving behind a vivid, controversial portrait of American high society at its most exclusive.