MSS 235 - New Orleans Views Collection: Inventory
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New Orleans Views COLLECTION
(Mss 235)
Inventory
Earl K. Long Library
University of New Orleans
July 1997
Summary
Size: 23 items
Geographic
locations: New Orleans, La.
Inclusive dates: 1890
Summary: Photographic prints of New Orleans views. Each print measures approximately 4 1/2" x 7 3/8", with 22 of same on black mount boards measuring 5 1/4" x 8 1/2", and 1 on white mount board measuring 5" x 8". Views include Spanish Fort, Margaret Place, Lee Circle, United States Mint, Metairie Cemetery, Jackson Square, old Parish Prison, steamships and the riverfront, Canal Street with Henry Clay statue and September 14, 1874 monument, New Basin Canal road, and Lake Pontchartrain terminus. Handwritten identification on the reverse of mount boards has not been verified.
Related
collections: Photographs Collection; Frank B. Moore Collection (Mss 145); Vieux Carre Photographs Collection (Mss 207)
Source: Purchase, 1980
Access: No restrictions
Copyright: Physical rights are retained by the Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans.
Citation: New Orleans Views Collection, Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans
Historical Note
Photography was brought to New Orleans by Jules Lion, a portrait painter and lithographer, in March 1840. Just six months before, the daguerreotype process had been introduced in Paris by its originator, Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre. According to Photography in New Orleans: The Early Years, 1840-1865 by Margaret Denton Smith and Mary Louise Tucker (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1982), "The early history of photography in the Crescent City was similar to that of many cities in the United States. There was at first a reaction of total amazement to the daguerreotype; local commentators expressed curiosity and delight in the process that enabled one to create pictures with light" (p. [3]).
An Englishman, Frederick Scott Archer, in 1851 "developed a method of using a light-sensitive collodion emulsion as the medium for creating a negative image. When the negative was formed upon a glass plate and backed by a dark ground, the image appeared positive. This unique photograph was called an ambrotype. When the negative was formed on a thin iron sheet, which had been japanned black or dark brown, it was called a ferrotype or tintype. This was also a unique image. Photographs upon glass or common sheet metal were much cheaper to produce than daguerreotypes, which required more precious metals as well as hours of preparation. But the most important use of the collodion process was for the production of glass negatives from which many paper positives could be made, thus introducing a means of rapid production of inexpensive multiple prints" (p. 5).
"If New Orleans was like other American cities in its enthusiastic acceptance and participation in the development of the photographic processes the first two decades, it was radically different from them in the 1860s. In 1861 the trend was dramatically reversed by the events and consequences of the Civil War: the blockade of the port, federal occupation and confiscation of property, and finally Reconstruction government. A tragic decline in private fortunes and quality of life persisted for almost twenty years" (p. 6).
"The war created a shift from an emphasis on leisurely portrait making to a fast turnout of inexpensive images such as the tintype and carte-de-visite, which recorded the faces of the young soldiers and their families as well as the generals of opposing armies. The carte-de-visite was a small paper photograph, usually 2½ by 4 inches, which was mounted on a card about the size of a visiting card. It was a French invention, patented in 1854. Works of this type were mailed by the thousands to loved ones, who placed them in albums as cherished mementoes or popular souvenirs. The war also contributed to the expanson of the photographer's interests and to commissions beyond the portrait." Several New Orleans photographers "participated in recording a tragic part of their country's history" (p. 6).
During its first quarter-century, "photography in New Orleans evolved from a one-man artistic endeavor to a business-oriented profession intent on the rapid production of inexpensive prints. The multiplication character inherent in the paper photographic processes was fully exploited. The stereo view card became as popular an item as the carte-de-visite, and in 1866 the cabinet portrait was introduced. This was a print, 4 by 5½ inches, mounted on a card that was 4¼ by 6½ inches. By 1865 the paper photograph had replaced the unique images of the daguerreotype and ambrotype, and the tintype was in declining use" (p. 7).
"In 1869 several important changes occurred. A method for retouching the negative rather than the finished print revolutionized the portrait business; the opening of the American West by the railroad companies stimulated an interest in landscape photography and boosted the stereo trade card. In 1871 a radical change was made by a British physician, Richard L. Maddox, who took the first steps in the development of a gelatin-based negative, which would eventually lead to the production of cameras for the millions. Photography was then taken out of the exclusive domain of the professional operator, who offered traditional and formal images, and was put into the hands of the amateur who used the camera for personal expression" (p. 7).
Container List
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 1
Subject: "Steamship at the wharf on Mississippi River," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Good
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 2
Subject: "St. Charles St.," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Good
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 3
Subject: "Looking Down Canal Street," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Good
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 4
Subject: "Canal Street," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Good
Remarks: View includes Henry Clay statue
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 5
Subject: September 14, 1874 monument (Liberty Place monument), New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Fading around edges
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 6
Subject: "Steamship New Orleans and okra boat at the wharf," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Good
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 7
Subject: "Loading at wharf foot of Canal Street; Steamship New Orleans," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Good
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 8
Subject: "A Greek Sailing Ship," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Minor discoloration at edges
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 9
Subject: "A Greek Sailing Ship," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Minor discoloration at edges
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 10
Subject: "Chalmette Cemetery" [possibly Greenwood Cemetery], New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Good
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 11
Subject: "Chalmette Cemetery" [possibly Greenwood Cemetery], New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Fading around edges
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 12
Subject: "Chalmette Cemetery" [possibly Greenwood Cemetery], New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Mount stained at edges, nominally affecting edge of print
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 13
Subject: "Old parish prison," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Good
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 14
Subject: "Old parish prison," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Mount stained at edges, nominally affecting edge of print
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 15
Subject: "Old Cathedral, barracks, and Statue of Andrew Jackson - Jackson Square," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Some surface wear and fading
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 16
Subject: "The Mint," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Fading, affecting edges and center of image
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 17
Subject: "Lee Circle and Lee Statue," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Large stain, affecting upper third of image
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 18
Subject: [Margaret Place; statue of Margaret Haughery]
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Good
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 19
Subject: "Jungle alongside the road from the City to Lake Pontchartrain," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Minor spotting
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 20
Subject: "At Spanish Fort," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Good
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 21
Subject: "Spanish Fort on Lake Pontchartrain," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Good
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 22
Subject: "Boat basin at Lake Pontchartrain in the canal," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Good
Remarks:
Number: New Orleans Views Collection, No. 23
Subject: "Road to Lake Pontchartrain. On left is jungle and swamp. On right is the canal out thru more swamp," New Orleans, La.
Date: February 1890
Photographer: Unknown
Form: Print (4 1/2" x 7 3/8") mounted on paper board (5 1/4" x 8 1/2")
Condition: Some surface wear and fading
Remarks:
Index Terms
New Orleans, La.--Views