Description: QUEEN OF THE SOUTH New Orleans, 1853-1862 The Journal of Thomas K. Wharton Editorial Reviews Review "Queen of the South: New Orleans, 1853--1862 consists of the diary of the British-born architect Thomas K. Wharton (1814-62), who was responsible for building the huge New Orleans Custom House on Canal Street. Though he had spent his youth in the North, Wharton was a committed Southern loyalist, defending states' rights and railing against the "demonic" actions of the North. His narrative is accompanied by splendid images of antebellum New Orleans---photos, drawings, engravings---up to the Union occupation of 1862. Any New Orleans enthusiast will find abundant detail and local color in Wharton's entries, which are preceded by the "meteorology of each day, and thermometrical observations taken at 9 a.m., 12 m., and 4 p.m. Fahrenheit's grade---and the instrument placed in a selected, shady place at the office of the New Custom House N. Orleans." --C&RL News Thomas Kelah Wharton was born in Hull, England in 1814, and when he was sixteen immigrated with his family to Ohio where they lived in a succession of small towns. When he was eighteen young Wharton apprenticed to prominent New York architect Martin Thompson and began moving in circles that included such figures as Washington Irving, Joel Poinsett, and Gen. Winfield Scott. Following his apprenticeship Wharton taught drawing, painting, and mathematics at three different boys schools on Long Island. When the last of those failed, Wharton and Francis Lister Hawks, an Episcopal clergyman, came south and opened their own school at Holly Springs, Mississippi. After about a year Hawks accepted the rectorship of talents to design a new Christ Church. In New Orleans Wharton became associated with the firm of James Gallier, Sr., whose son earlier had been one of Wharton's students both on Long Island and in Holly Springs. And for the next several years Wharton was intimately involved with the design and building of the New Orleans Customs House, serving variously as architect pro-tem and acting superintendent of construction, eventually becoming assistant to Maj. P.G. T. Beauregard of the U.S. Corps. of Army Engineers who became permanent superintendent. At the same time Wharton pursued an active architectural practice, designing residences in New Orleans, the most imposing of the latter being the Bosworth house at 1126 Washington Avenue... In his journal Wharton reported on local professional, social and public affairs---noted local elections, church attendance, illnesses in his family, i.e., local medical practice, commented on national and international affairs, and, of course, on architecture and the physical growth and development of the city. All in all he provides a remarkable picture of New Orleans and its life during the 1850s and the critical early years of the Civil War. --University of New Orleans Very few books that come across my desk have impressed me as mich as "Queen of the South, New Orleans, 1853-1862, The Journal of Thomas K. Wharton." This is quality that can come from only the best archival facility in the state, The Historic New Orleans Collection....Anyone who loves the city of New Orleans will delight in the way Wharton's journals offer a look at the city as it was in the 19th century. It's the sights and sounds that are often overlooked by most people, but for those who enjoy the minutest detail, "Queen of the South" is just the answer to what you need. --Times-Picayune Queen of the South: New Orleans, 1853--1862 consists of the diary of the British-born architect Thomas K. Wharton (1814-62), who was responsible for building the huge New Orleans Custom House on Canal Street. Though he had spent his youth in the North, Wharton was a committed Southern loyalist, defending states' rights and railing against the "demonic" actions of the North. His narrative is accompanied by splendid images of antebellum New Orleans---photos, drawings, engravings---up to the Union occupation of 1862. Any New Orleans enthusiast will find abundant detail and local color in Wharton's entries, which are preceded by the "meteorology of each day, and thermometrical observations taken at 9 a.m., 12 m., and 4 p.m. Fahrenheit's grade---and the instrument placed in a selected, shady place at the office of the New Custom House N. Orleans. --C&RL News Very few books that come across my desk have impressed me as mich as "Queen of the South, New Orleans, 1853-1862, The Journal of Thomas K. Wharton." This is quality that can come from only the best archival facility in the state, The Historic New Orleans Collection....Anyone who loves the city of New Orleans will delight in the way Wharton's journals offer a look at the city as it was in the 19th century. It's the sights and sounds that are often overlooked by most people, but for those who enjoy the minutest detail, "Queen of the South" is just the answer to what you need. --Times-Picayune Product Description "Queen of the South is a selected edition of the journal of Thomas Kelah Wharton, superintendent of construction for the New Orleans Custom House. His journal entries tell the story of daily life in antebellum New Orleans from 1853 to the outbreak of the Civil War. For nine years, Wharton faithfully recorded and sketched in his journal contemporary reports on epidemics, luxurious Mississippi River steamboats, thundering sermons, society balls, moneymaking, architecture, and such technological breakthroughs as gaslights and piped river water. He loved the city like a native even during the scorching heat of its six-month summers. Wharton wrote about an extraordinary time in the city's history, a time when fortunes were made and multiplied, the population doubled and redoubled, mansions and grand hotels were built, yellow fever raged, and armed men took to the streets during elections. It was a time of splendor and prosperity for New Orleans, a true golden age that ended abruptly with the outbreak of the Civil War and the capture of the city by the Union fleet. It was the end of an era. Queen of the South invites the reader to walk the unpaved streets of nineteenth-century New Orleans, to marvel at a white Lamarque rose blooming in winter, to pass doors adorned with crepe for yellow-fever victims, and to look downriver at Federal ships approaching to claim the city. Product Details Hardcover: 320 pagesPublisher: The Historic New Orleans Collection; 1st edition (November 1, 1999)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0917860438ISBN-13: 978-0917860430 Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 9.1 x 0.9 inches Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds Condition - VERY good condition. A PERFECT gift! We not only have a smoke-free home, but we have air filters whirring about all day long! Winner to pay with PayPal. Winning bidder pays $3.95 for U.S. Media mail shipping. I am happy to give a great break on shipping with other items won when paid together. We will gladly ship internationally. Please check for rates before bidding! Feel free to contact me with any questions. 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Price: 79.99 USD
Location: Santa Barbara, California
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Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Publication Year: 1999
Genre: Travel
Number of Pages: Xxvii, 291 Pages