1883 Robinson Atlas

The Southeastern Architectural Archive (SEAA) and the Tulane University Libraries' Preservation Department recently completed an exciting conservation project. An important New Orleans fire insurance atlas has been cleaned, mended and housed in a custom-made protective enclosure. It is now accessible to researchers for the first time in decades. Known most commonly as the Robinson Atlas, the work was published under the title Atlas of the City of New Orleans, Louisiana, based upon surveys furnished by John F. Braun, surveyor and architect, New Orleans.

Based on district maps that architect-surveyor John Braun developed in the 1870s, the Robinson Atlas represents the finest in accurate insurance mapping. It was printed in Philadelphia by A.H. Mueller and F. Bourquin and published by New Yorkers Robinson & Pidgeon. The latter produced a number of municipal fire insurance atlases in the early 1880s, the most notable of which are the ones for Chicago, New Orleans and New York.

Individual sheets are lithographed. Text blocks were engraved by A.H. Mueller.

Although the New Orleans Notarial Archive digitized its Robinson Atlas many years ago, it did not include the index maps that provide critical content, including the map key. The SEAA's holdings include two index maps, and both variants have been conserved.

Image above:  Index map. Detail. Atlas of the City of New Orleans, Louisiana, based upon surveys furnished by John F. Braun, surveyor and architect, New Orleans. Published by E. Robinson, New York. [AKA The Robinson Atlas]. 1883.