Plantations on the Mississippi River...: Aiena, 1858[1967]

• Title: Plantations on the Mississippi River From Natchez to New Orleans 1858
• Author: Joseph Aiena
• Date: 1858[1967]
• Condition: Excellent
• Inches: 31 x 53 [Paper]
• Centimeters: 78.74 x 134.62 [Paper]
• Product ID: 308613

This distinguished 1967 special edition, crafted by Joseph Anthony Aiena, offers a refined reinterpretation of the renowned 'Persac Map' or 'Norman Map,' which documents the Mississippi River's plantation landscape from New Orleans to Natchez. The map is thoughtfully arranged in two segments: the left portion depicts the river's course from Natchez to Baton Rouge, while the right segment extends from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. Throughout the composition, plantation estates are meticulously illustrated and systematically color-coded, with proprietors' names clearly inscribed. Notably, each estate is depicted as an elongated, narrow tract to emphasize the critical importance of river access for all properties. Encircling the map is a decorative border inspired by cotton motifs, underscoring the region's agricultural heritage.

First issued in 1858, the Norman/Persac Map was created by French landscape painter and real estate artist Marie Adrien Persac (1823–1873) in collaboration with Benjamin Moore Norman (1809–1860). The map emerged because of Persac’s extensive travels along the Mississippi River, during which he surveyed and depicted the plantation estates for New Orleans auction houses. Originally conceived as the first in a series of three maps extending up the Mississippi as far as Memphis, only this initial map was ever produced. Fewer than ten copies of the original Norman/Persac Map are known to exist today, with five held in institutional collections. Notably, an extant example realized an impressive $316,000 USD at Neal Auctions in New Orleans several years ago.

The map was meticulously rendered by Joseph Aiena of the Chambers Agency Art Department. It was copyright registered in 1967 by Pelican Publishing Company, with lithographic printing executed in Colorado Springs by the Pikes Peak Lithographing Company.