It’s a trip back in time to a city that was growing and changing more every single day: New York City.

And this change was documented in many ways through guidebooks, viewbooks, photobooks and maps.

Mark Tomasko has been collecting these items since 1969, when he purchased “King’s Photographic Views of New York” from 1895.

“That one is very usual because it has a lot of small 19th century commercial buildings that you won’t see in most guidebooks. So I got completely hooked by that book,” Tomasko, a curator, said.

That started a collecting odyssey. The proof is in an exhibition called “Wish You Were Here,” with items from as early as 1807 until 1940 at the Grolier Club, which is the nation’s oldest and largest society for bibliophiles.

The collections feature panoramas with incredible old views of places like Union Square.

How about a postcard of the Woolworth Building that was made slightly before the structure was built, or a version of the Brooklyn Bridge eight years before it opened?

“They would sometimes do these wood engravings of what a building might look like when it was built,” Tomasko said.

There is a guide on how to dine in town from 1903, and a pocket map and visitor’s guide to Central Park from 1859 — only the Ramble area had opened at that point. It’s a fun look back through pictures in all five boroughs as the city expanded through consolidation.

“I love going around New York and looking at the buildings and trying to envision what was here before, when was this building built, particularly if it has any interesting features to it. New York is endlessly entertaining to me,” he said.

Tomasko hopes visitors will get a sense of how New York evolved over time and the publications that captured this, enthusing them with the city’s history.

Those interested can plan their visit at GrolierClub.org.