TANESSE, Jacques (19th Century) and ROLLINSON, William.
Plan of the City and Suburbs of New Orleans from an actual Survey made in 1815 by J. Tanesse, City Surveyor.
Engraving.
New York: Charles Del Vecchio, and New Orleans: Pierre Maspero, 1825.
20 3/8" x 32 1/4" sheet, 32" x 44" framed.

Comparable: Neal Auction House, 2018 - $18,300.

"ONE OF THE FINEST EXAMPLES OF 19TH-CENTURY AMERICAN URBAN CARTOGRAPHY" (Reps), in the desirable second state.

While under Spanish rule from 1763 to 1801, little was done to further the development of the city. France regained possession for a brief period, and then with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the city began its steady, orderly, and controlled expansion beyond the original boundaries. Shown in the plan's neat grid layout is a key feature of the city's original plan, which was the open square or public plaza, which was designed as a space opening on to or terminating one of the numerous boulevards. Tanesse also includes the breastworks that proved to be decisive in America's defeat of the British during the Battle of New Orleans in January, 1815. This detail is shown perpendicular to the Mississippi River in the lower right hand corner of the city plan. The twelve border insets show the city's most important buildings, all drawn in elevation and representing the French, Spanish, and American periods of New Orleans history. Featured above the plan is the Cathedral breaking through a lunette (to accommodate its new spire); it is flanked by Cabildo and the Presbytère.

In Timothy Flint's Recollections of the Last Ten Years (Boston, 1826), a valuable source of information about early cities along the Mississippi, he describes how he found New Orleans in 1823: "The ancient part of the city, as you pass down Levee street towards the Cathedral, has in one of the clear, bright January mornings … an imposing and brilliant appearance, I am told, far more resembling European cities than any other in the United States. The houses are stuccoed externally, and this stucco is white or yellow, and strikes the eye more pleasantly than the dull and somber red of brick … There are in the limits of the city three malls … not yet sufficiently shaded, though young trees are growing in them. They serve as parade grounds, and in the winter have a beautiful carpet of clover, of a most brilliant green" (pp. 302-303). The map was issued in two states: the first in 1817 and the second in 1825. In this, the second state, the triumphal arch erected to celebrate General Lafayette's visit to New Orleans In 1824 is positioned in the lower central portion of the map on land across the river. The 60-foot arch, however, was actually situated in the Place d'Armes. Designed by city architect Joseph Pillé, it was constructed of wood scaffolding covered by canvas and painted to resemble marble by Jean Baptiste Fogliardi, scene painter for the Théâtre d'Orléans. In The Making of Urban America (1966), Reps wistfully remarks: "Today's visitor must restrict his vision to escape the visual intrusions of [commercialization]. Yet, in the little oasis of Jackson Square and in some of the surrounding streets, one may recapture the atmosphere of French New Orleans and imagine himself in Bienville's little capital of the great province of Louisiana" (p. 87).

"Engraved broadsheet plan (32 x 20 in.; 81.3 x 50.8 cm) by William Rollinson after the City Surveyor Jacques Tanesse, cartouche with a Native American family in exotic dress, 12 border insets (8 labelled and lettered) including the Théâtre d'Orléans, the Douane, the Gouvernement, Pompe à Feu, Théâtre de Philippe, College d'Orléans, Couvent des Religieuses, and l'Hôpital de Charité; expert repairs to margins and a horizontal portion of the river and land mass below. Floated on a linen mat, glazed and framed.

REFERENCES: M. Fielding, American Engravers upon Copper and Steel, 1294; I.N. Phelps Stokes & D.C. Haskell, American Historical Prints Early Views of American Cities, Etc. F-6; J. W. Reps, Cities of the American West (1979), 21, fig. 1.17; J.W. Reps, The Making of Urban America (1966), pp. 84-87, cf. Fig. 50; Deák, Picturing America 292; J.J. Poesch (ed.), Printmaking in New Orleans (2006), 78-79, fig. 9".